BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 20,546 Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets cut its stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 54.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,194 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 20,546 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned 0.06% of AZZ worth $1,420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AZZ by 3,790.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 69.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 459 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of AZZ in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ during the second quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in AZZ during the second quarter worth $72,000. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

AZZ Stock Performance

AZZ stock traded down $1.34 during trading on Monday, hitting $94.07. The stock had a trading volume of 169,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 227,011. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock's 50 day moving average is $83.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.91. AZZ Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.27 and a 1 year high of $97.98. The stock has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.30.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $409.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $409.50 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 7.63%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.