Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 3,187 Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 399,299 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,187 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.34% of AZZ worth $32,711,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AZZ. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in AZZ by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,100,189 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $90,887,000 after acquiring an additional 27,710 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in AZZ during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,139,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 675,603 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,823,000 after purchasing an additional 10,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvey Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of AZZ by 1.8% during the third quarter. Harvey Partners LLC now owns 666,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,018,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AZZ. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Capital raised AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm assumed coverage on shares of AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.67.

AZZ Stock Performance

AZZ traded down $0.11 on Thursday, hitting $83.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 137,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 234,952. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $90.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. AZZ Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.59 and a 12 month high of $99.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27.

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

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 30th. AZZ's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.95%.

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.