Teacher Retirement System of Texas Invests $347,000 in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,150 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $347,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AZZ by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 515 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of AZZ by 2,150.0% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 855 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of AZZ by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,298 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of AZZ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in shares of AZZ during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

AZZ Price Performance

AZZ stock traded down $0.84 on Tuesday, reaching $110.61. 265,327 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 221,473. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 1.24. AZZ Inc. has a twelve month low of $69.59 and a twelve month high of $113.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.93 and a 200-day moving average of $90.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $421,962 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $435.91 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 16.40%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from AZZ's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.27%.

Insider Transactions at AZZ

In related news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.85, for a total value of $2,939,298.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 183,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,305,724.70. This represents a 12.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.98, for a total transaction of $539,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 27,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,992,017.82. This represents a 15.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 77,256 shares of company stock valued at $7,483,319 over the last three months. 1.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AZZ shares. Wall Street Zen raised AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Sidoti downgraded AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, June 9th. Noble Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of AZZ from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AZZ has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $108.00.

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.