Quest Partners LLC Makes New $611,000 Investment in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,402 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $611,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in AZZ by 3,790.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of AZZ by 69.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 459 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of AZZ in the second quarter worth about $52,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of AZZ in the second quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in AZZ during the second quarter valued at approximately $72,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AZZ Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE AZZ traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $95.54. 278,313 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 181,785. The stock has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 74.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.25. AZZ Inc. has a 52 week low of $48.03 and a 52 week high of $96.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $409.01 million for 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%. AZZ's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. Analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 5.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. AZZ's payout ratio is 53.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wolfe Research started coverage on AZZ in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.80.

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.