Northern Trust Corp Grows Holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 22.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 352,225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,023 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp’s holdings in AZZ were worth $28,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in AZZ by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,861,000 after buying an additional 4,315 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of AZZ by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 131,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $10,772,000 after purchasing an additional 8,400 shares during the period. Smith Group Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AZZ during the 4th quarter worth $509,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in AZZ by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in AZZ by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 157,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,004,000 after acquiring an additional 10,038 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AZZ Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE AZZ opened at $91.55 on Monday. AZZ Inc. has a one year low of $69.59 and a one year high of $99.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.16. 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 has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 61.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25.

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

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 18,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.91, for a total value of $1,694,893.41. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 192,607 shares in the company, valued at $17,317,295.37. The trade was a 8.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.