Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 6.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 157,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 10,038 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in AZZ were worth $13,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AZZ. CWM LLC raised its holdings in AZZ by 69.4% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in AZZ by 7.7% in the second quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,298 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in AZZ by 38.6% during the second quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in AZZ by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in AZZ by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 11,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $879,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $90.00 price objective for the company. Baird R W raised shares of AZZ to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of AZZ in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AZZ presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.80.

AZZ Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE AZZ opened at $82.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.85. AZZ Inc. has a one year low of $48.03 and a one year high of $88.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $79.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.79, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.25.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.05. AZZ had a net margin of 7.63% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The business had revenue of $409.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $409.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. AZZ’s payout ratio is 53.13%.

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.