Granite Investment Partners LLC Sells 3,439 Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Granite Investment Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,537 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 3,439 shares during the quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.14% of AZZ worth $3,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of AZZ by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AZZ by 202.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AZZ by 32.4% during the 4th 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. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 50.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,244 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in AZZ during the 4th quarter worth about $214,000. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AZZ Stock Performance

AZZ stock traded down $0.93 during trading on Friday, reaching $81.08. The company had a trading volume of 199,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 252,009. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $87.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.30. AZZ Inc. has a 52 week low of $69.59 and a 52 week high of $99.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. AZZ's payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Sidoti raised shares of AZZ from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $101.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. B. Riley boosted their target price on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, AZZ has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $100.71.

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.