UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Purchases 9,531 Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,111 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,531 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned about 0.23% of AZZ worth $5,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AZZ. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in AZZ by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 202.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 2,150.0% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 855 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its stake in AZZ by 50.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,244 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,889 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.88, for a total value of $2,309,227.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,160,013.04. This represents a 11.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AZZ. Sidoti raised shares of AZZ from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $101.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Noble Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Capital raised AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price target on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.71.

AZZ Stock Performance

AZZ stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $93.13. The stock had a trading volume of 171,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 222,093. The company has a 50-day moving average of $86.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. AZZ Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $69.59 and a fifty-two week high of $99.49. The company has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 62.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25.

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

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 24th. AZZ's payout ratio is 42.77%.

About AZZ

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.