Horizon Investments LLC Trims Stock Position in AZZ Inc. $AZZ

Horizon Investments LLC cut its position in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 40.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,218 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,371 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in AZZ were worth $988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in AZZ by 9.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 162,812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,768,000 after purchasing an additional 14,430 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in AZZ during the fourth quarter worth about $2,120,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in AZZ during the third quarter worth about $1,032,000. Robeco Schweiz AG purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,365,000. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of AZZ by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,961,247 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $214,031,000 after acquiring an additional 157,529 shares during the period. 90.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AZZ news, insider Tara D. Mackey sold 2,923 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.00, for a total transaction of $397,528.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,042,728. The trade was a 11.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price target on shares of AZZ in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of AZZ from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $127.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on shares of AZZ from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.80.

AZZ Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of AZZ stock opened at $144.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.72 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $131.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.75. AZZ Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $86.67 and a fifty-two week high of $147.96.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $385.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $382.24 million. AZZ had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 14.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. AZZ has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.500-7.000 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 30th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 2.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 23rd. AZZ’s payout ratio is 7.62%.

AZZ Profile

AZZ Inc, incorporated in 1956 and headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a leading provider of galvanizing and metal finishing solutions alongside electrical equipment and services. The company supports a diverse range of industries—such as energy, infrastructure, heavy equipment and general industrial markets—by delivering corrosion protection and high-performance electrical solutions designed for demanding environments.

AZZ operates two primary business segments. The Global Coatings & Services segment offers hot-dip galvanizing, metal finishing, painting, powder coating and related value-added services to steel fabricators and original equipment manufacturers.