AZZ Inc. $AZZ Stock Sold by Simplex Trading LLC

Simplex Trading LLC lowered its stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,097 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,120 shares during the period. Simplex Trading LLC’s holdings in AZZ were worth $819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter worth $719,876,000. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new position in shares of AZZ in the 1st quarter worth $45,297,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of AZZ in the 2nd quarter worth $35,818,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ during the second quarter worth $32,505,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of AZZ by 50.5% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 102,027 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,768,000 after purchasing an additional 34,241 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Trading Up 5.7%

NYSE AZZ opened at $132.91 on Tuesday. AZZ Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.61 and a 1-year high of $162.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a PE ratio of 23.95 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.28.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 13th. The industrial products company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.12. AZZ had a return on equity of 14.85% and a net margin of 9.59%. The firm had revenue of $486.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $467.14 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. AZZ has set its FY 2027 guidance at 7.000-7.300 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that AZZ Inc. will post 7.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 5th. Investors of record on Monday, October 19th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 19th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. AZZ’s payout ratio is presently 17.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AZZ. Wall Street Zen raised AZZ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 17th. B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on AZZ from $170.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Barclays boosted their price objective on AZZ from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on AZZ from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $153.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 2,677 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.07, for a total value of $401,737.39. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 35,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,252,450. This represents a 7.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Profile