Widmann Financial Services Inc. Takes Position in AZZ Inc. $AZZ

Key Points

• Widmann Financial Services Inc. has made a $204,000 investment in AZZ Inc., acquiring 2,440 shares in the first quarter, as disclosed in a recent SEC filing.
• AZZ recently reported earnings per share of $1.78, exceeding analyst expectations, while revenue for the quarter increased by 2.1% compared to the previous year.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.17 to $0.20, reflecting a positive change for shareholders.

Widmann Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,440 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AZZ. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its position in AZZ by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 17,528 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 41.4% in the 1st quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 47,291 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,954,000 after buying an additional 13,857 shares during the period. Credit Agricole S A raised its holdings in AZZ by 288.4% in the 1st quarter. Credit Agricole S A now owns 33,591 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,809,000 after purchasing an additional 24,942 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in AZZ by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,220 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in AZZ by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 68,712 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,745,000 after purchasing an additional 5,601 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Sidoti lowered AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Zacks Research cut AZZ from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective 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 given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of the 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 owned 183,182 shares in the company, valued at $20,305,724.70. This represents a 12.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kurt L. Russell sold 10,321 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.21, for a total transaction of $1,158,119.41. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,804 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,885,576.84. This represents a 38.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,837 shares of company stock worth $5,195,318. 1.77% of the stock is owned by insiders.

AZZ Stock Down 0.9%

AZZ stock traded down $1.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $115.40. 194,041 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 291,249. The company's 50-day moving average is $106.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.93. 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 52-week low of $70.90 and a 52-week high of $117.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 1.30.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.19. AZZ had a net margin of 16.40% and a return on equity of 15.54%. The business had revenue of $421.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $435.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. AZZ has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.750-6.250 EPS. On average, analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from AZZ's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.