Invesco Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Invesco Ltd. raised its position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 21.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 298,084 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 52,281 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.00% of AZZ worth $24,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AZZ by 32.4% during 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 last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of AZZ by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of AZZ by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,658 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 24,151 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,978,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in AZZ by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,452 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $529,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

AZZ Price Performance

NYSE:AZZ traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $81.07. The stock had a trading volume of 209,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 253,496. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.26. AZZ Inc. has a one year low of $69.59 and a one year high of $99.49.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. The business had revenue of $351.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $367.78 million. Research analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.