AZZ Inc. $AZZ Shares Purchased by Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc.

Key Points

• Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in AZZ Inc. by 7.2% during Q1, owning approximately 0.25% of the company, valued at $6.23 million.
• Several large investors, including Signaturefd LLC and Caitong International Asset Management, significantly increased their positions in AZZ, demonstrating growing institutional interest.
• AZZ Inc. reported earnings that beat expectations, with $1.78 per share, while also announcing a dividend increase from $0.17 to $0.20 per quarter.

Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 7.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,545 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,979 shares during the period. Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. owned 0.25% of AZZ worth $6,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZZ. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of AZZ by 110.0% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 399 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in AZZ by 1,121.3% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 977 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in AZZ by 140.1% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,095 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its position in AZZ by 97.0% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Widmann Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in AZZ during the first quarter worth approximately $204,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at AZZ

In other news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.85, for a total transaction of $2,939,298.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,305,724.70. The trade was a 12.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.60, for a total transaction of $558,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 22,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,534,324.40. The trade was a 18.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 46,837 shares of company stock valued at $5,195,318. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

AZZ Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of AZZ stock traded down $1.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $117.90. The company had a trading volume of 60,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 259,723. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.68 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.51. AZZ Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.90 and a twelve month high of $119.95. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $110.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.13.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.19. AZZ had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 16.40%.The firm had revenue of $421.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $435.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. AZZ's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. AZZ has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.750-6.250 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from AZZ's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AZZ. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Zacks Research downgraded AZZ from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Noble Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on AZZ from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.29.

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.