Strs Ohio Invests $197,000 in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $197,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 131.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 903 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in AZZ during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in AZZ by 41.2% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 1,398 shares in the last quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in AZZ during the 4th quarter worth approximately $238,000. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in AZZ by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Stock Performance

Shares of AZZ opened at $71.62 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $75.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.98. AZZ Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.59 and a 52-week high of $84.52. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.23. AZZ had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 6.61%. The company had revenue of $366.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $351.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. AZZ’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 16th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.83%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AZZ. StockNews.com raised AZZ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. B. Riley boosted their price target on AZZ from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Noble Financial lowered AZZ from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 22nd.

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.