Franklin Resources Inc. Has $2.42 Million Position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 35.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,835 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 16,194 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.10% of AZZ worth $2,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Delphi Management Inc. MA lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 23,685 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,830,000 after acquiring an additional 2,521 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in AZZ by 8.7% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 85,547 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,608,000 after purchasing an additional 6,847 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 81,999.5% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 153,526 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $11,860,000 after purchasing an additional 153,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $55,823,000 after buying an additional 10,072 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of AZZ by 25.7% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 59,716 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,613,000 after buying an additional 12,226 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

AZZ Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE AZZ traded down $1.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $82.06. 108,225 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 225,282. AZZ Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.78 and a 52-week high of $97.98. The business's fifty day moving average price is $86.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 64.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.30.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $409.50 million. AZZ had a net margin of 7.63% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. Analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.13%.

AZZ Company 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.