Boston Partners Buys 15,952 Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Boston Partners increased its stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 311,938 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,952 shares during the period. Boston Partners’ holdings in AZZ were worth $25,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 115.9% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 23,015 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 12,355 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of AZZ during the fourth quarter worth $225,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 5,676 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 55,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,571,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AZZ shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Mkm began coverage on AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley lifted their price objective on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Roth Capital upgraded AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.67.

AZZ Price Performance

AZZ opened at $83.62 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $90.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.85. 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 current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of 56.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. The company had revenue of $403.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. AZZ’s payout ratio is 45.95%.

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.