61,664 Shares in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 61,664 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $5,052,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.21% of AZZ at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of AZZ by 39.0% in the 4th 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 lifted its stake in AZZ by 202.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in AZZ by 50.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its holdings in AZZ by 225.1% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 2,832 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millburn Ridgefield Corp purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $234,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Roth Capital raised AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on shares of AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.67.

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AZZ Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AZZ traded down $1.88 on Friday, hitting $83.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 25,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 246,041. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $90.51 and a 200-day moving average of $86.12. The company has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. AZZ Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.59 and a 12-month high of $99.49. 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 (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $403.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.30 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. AZZ's revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. AZZ's payout ratio is 45.95%.

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.