Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 61,664 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $5,052,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.21% of AZZ as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted 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 purchasing an additional 142,215 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in shares of AZZ in the 4th quarter valued at $7,798,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ during the fourth quarter worth $7,002,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in AZZ by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 258,912 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $21,210,000 after buying an additional 68,131 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of AZZ by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 298,084 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $24,419,000 after buying an additional 52,281 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AZZ. Sidoti raised shares of AZZ from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $101.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. B. Riley raised their price target on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Mkm began coverage on AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Roth Capital raised AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Four equities research 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $100.71.

AZZ Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of AZZ traded up $1.89 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $88.65. 34,360 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 229,257. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 59.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22. AZZ Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.59 and a 52 week high of $99.49.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.98 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $351.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $367.78 million. On average, research analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.