Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Stock Position in AZZ Inc. $AZZ

Key Points

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Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,196,933 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 41,944 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.69% of AZZ worth $267,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AZZ. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in AZZ by 554.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 251,823 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $20,629,000 after acquiring an additional 213,355 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in AZZ by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 882,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $72,279,000 after acquiring an additional 142,215 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in AZZ during the 4th quarter valued at $10,612,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in AZZ by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,729,287 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $223,584,000 after acquiring an additional 124,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in AZZ by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 650,072 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $54,353,000 after acquiring an additional 105,723 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZZ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on AZZ from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen raised AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research cut AZZ from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AZZ has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.60, for a total value of $558,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 22,709 shares in the company, valued at $2,534,324.40. This trade represents a 18.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Kurt L. Russell sold 10,321 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.21, for a total value of $1,158,119.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,804 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,885,576.84. This trade represents a 38.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,837 shares of company stock worth $5,195,318 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

AZZ Stock Performance

AZZ stock traded up $4.4230 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $116.2130. The stock had a trading volume of 195,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 301,291. The stock has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 13.47 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. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.38. AZZ Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.90 and a 52-week high of $117.35.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $421,962 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $435.91 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 16.40%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. AZZ has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.750-6.250 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This is a positive change from AZZ's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.27%.

AZZ 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.