Pullen Investment Management LLC Buys 6,007 Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 45.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,126 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,007 shares during the quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of AZZ worth $1,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 389.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 51,458 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,250,000 after purchasing an additional 40,938 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in AZZ by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,363 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $767,000 after buying an additional 1,755 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC bought a new position in AZZ during the fourth quarter worth about $233,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in AZZ by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,244 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AZZ during the 4th quarter worth about $509,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at AZZ

In other news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 18,851 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.91, for a total transaction of $1,694,893.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 192,607 shares in the company, valued at $17,317,295.37. This represents a 8.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Noble Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Sidoti raised shares of AZZ from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $101.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on shares of AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Roth Capital raised AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their target price on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AZZ presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $100.71.

AZZ Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE AZZ traded up $0.04 on Friday, reaching $90.61. The company had a trading volume of 91,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 221,932. The company's fifty day moving average is $86.00 and its 200-day moving average is $88.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.77. AZZ Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.59 and a 1-year high of $99.49.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $351.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $367.78 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. On average, research analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 24th. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.77%.

AZZ Company Profile

AZZ Inc provides hot-dip galvanizing and coil coating solutions in North America. It offers metal finishing solutions for corrosion protection, including hot-dip galvanizing, spin galvanizing, powder coating, anodizing, and plating to steel fabrication and other industries, as well as to fabricators or manufacturers that provide services to the transmission and distribution, bridge and highway, petrochemical, and general industrial markets; and original equipment manufacturers.