Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $13 Million Position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) by 6.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 157,418 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,038 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.53% of AZZ worth $13,004,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of AZZ by 69.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 459 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,298 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AZZ by 38.6% in the 2nd quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 951 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AZZ by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in AZZ by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 11,379 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $879,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on AZZ. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on AZZ in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird started coverage on AZZ in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Baird R W upgraded AZZ to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.80.

AZZ Stock Performance

NYSE AZZ traded down $0.90 on Friday, hitting $82.93. 252,742 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 155,833. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $79.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25. AZZ Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.03 and a fifty-two week high of $88.67.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 EPS 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 return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 7.63%. The firm's revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. AZZ's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.