Gabelli Funds LLC Grows Position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 266,708 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned approximately 1.07% of AZZ worth $11,591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of AZZ by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 192,062 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,921,000 after purchasing an additional 36,872 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter valued at about $203,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter valued at about $254,000. Legato Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AZZ by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 38,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 4,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of AZZ during the 1st quarter valued at about $549,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on AZZ. Noble Financial began coverage on AZZ in a research report on Monday, August 21st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com lowered AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 18th. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on AZZ in a research report on Wednesday, August 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AZZ has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.33.

AZZ Price Performance

AZZ opened at $49.12 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.33. AZZ Inc. has a 1 year low of $34.59 and a 1 year high of $50.86. The firm has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.82 and a beta of 1.28.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 11th. The industrial products company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $398.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.91 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 11.94% and a net margin of 2.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 4.09 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 18th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 17th. AZZ’s payout ratio is presently 77.27%.

AZZ Company Profile

AZZ Inc provides hot-dip galvanizing and coil coating solutions in the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, and India. The company operates through AZZ Metal Coatings and AZZ Precoat Metals segments. The AZZ Metal Coatings segment offers metal finishing solutions for corrosion protection, including hot-dip galvanizing, spin galvanizing, powder coating, anodizing, and plating to steel fabrication and other industries.