Northern Trust Corp Acquires 64,023 Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 22.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 352,225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,023 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.18% of AZZ worth $28,854,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AZZ by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,658 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in AZZ by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 24,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,978,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in AZZ by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,072 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AZZ Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AZZ opened at $91.55 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $84.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.16. AZZ Inc. has a 1 year low of $69.59 and a 1 year high of $99.49. The company has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 61.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.77.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $351.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $367.78 million. AZZ had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 16.99%. On average, research analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. AZZ’s payout ratio is currently 42.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,889 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.88, for a total value of $2,309,227.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 211,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,160,013.04. This trade represents a 11.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Roth Mkm started coverage on AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Noble Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Sidoti upgraded shares of AZZ from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Roth Capital upgraded AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.71.

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.