Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Sells 3,690 Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 43.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,870 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,690 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in AZZ were worth $399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of AZZ by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 352,225 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $28,854,000 after acquiring an additional 64,023 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in AZZ by 2,150.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 855 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AZZ in the fourth quarter worth about $7,500,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of AZZ in the fourth quarter worth about $3,400,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AZZ by 4.8% in 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 buying an additional 124,392 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at AZZ

In related news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,889 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,458 shares in the company, valued at $18,160,013.04. The trade was a 11.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on AZZ shares. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Roth Capital upgraded AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Sidoti upgraded AZZ from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $101.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, AZZ has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.71.

AZZ Price Performance

NYSE:AZZ traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $94.04. 191,056 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 225,302. AZZ Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.59 and a 1 year high of $99.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.77. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $84.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.32. The company has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a PE ratio of 63.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. The firm had revenue of $351.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $367.78 million. Sell-side analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given 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 is Thursday, April 24th. AZZ's payout ratio is 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.