Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Increases Stock Position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 23.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,363 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,755 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in AZZ were worth $767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZZ. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in AZZ in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,139,000. FMR LLC grew its position in AZZ by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,223,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $266,284,000 after purchasing an additional 385,240 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new stake in AZZ in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,798,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in AZZ by 1,822.5% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 72,650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,612,000 after purchasing an additional 68,871 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in AZZ by 514.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 53,500 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,133,000 after purchasing an additional 44,800 shares during the period. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AZZ Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE:AZZ opened at $86.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.30. AZZ Inc. has a one year low of $60.82 and a one year high of $97.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $88.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.69.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $403.65 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.30 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. AZZ’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. AZZ’s payout ratio is presently 45.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.80.

AZZ 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.