Northern Trust Corp Boosts Position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 22.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 352,225 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 64,023 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.18% of AZZ worth $28,854,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of AZZ by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,729,287 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $223,584,000 after acquiring an additional 124,392 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in AZZ by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,110,831 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $90,999,000 after purchasing an additional 29,306 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in AZZ by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 311,938 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $25,852,000 after purchasing an additional 15,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in AZZ by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 298,084 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $24,419,000 after acquiring an additional 52,281 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at AZZ

In related news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,889 shares of the company's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,458 shares in the company, valued at $18,160,013.04. This represents a 11.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Roth Capital upgraded AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. B. Riley lifted their price target on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Sidoti upgraded AZZ from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $101.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $100.71.

AZZ Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:AZZ traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $94.04. 191,056 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 225,302. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.77. AZZ Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.59 and a 12 month high of $99.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.54, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $84.89 and a 200 day moving average of $87.32.

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

AZZ Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. AZZ's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.77%.

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.