MQS Management LLC Invests $385,000 in AZZ Inc. $AZZ

MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 4,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $385,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 39.6% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 374 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 2.8% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 4,220 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $353,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 4.2% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 1.0% during the first quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 17,528 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,466,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 110.0% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at AZZ

In other AZZ news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.60, for a total value of $558,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 22,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,534,324.40. This represents a 18.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Kurt L. Russell sold 10,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.21, for a total transaction of $1,158,119.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,804 shares in the company, valued at $1,885,576.84. The trade was a 38.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of AZZ stock opened at $98.61 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $109.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.30. AZZ Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.90 and a twelve month high of $119.95.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter. AZZ had a net margin of 19.69% and a return on equity of 15.01%. The company had revenue of $129.87 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of AZZ from $128.00 to $121.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Monday, July 14th. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of AZZ from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AZZ presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.43.

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.