Wakefield Asset Management LLLP Acquires New Holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP purchased a new stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 12,306 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,008,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AZZ. Oak Harvest Investment Services bought a new stake in shares of AZZ during the 3rd quarter valued at about $207,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in AZZ by 3,790.0% during the 3rd 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 157,418 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $13,004,000 after acquiring an additional 10,038 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments bought a new position in shares of AZZ in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $272,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 23,997 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 2,114 shares during the period. 90.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AZZ Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE:AZZ traded down $2.23 on Tuesday, reaching $89.24. 119,090 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 241,097. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.15, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. AZZ Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.59 and a 12 month high of $99.49. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $89.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.33.

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AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $403.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.30 million. AZZ had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 16.99%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. AZZ's payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Roth Mkm started coverage on AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Roth Capital raised shares of AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. B. Riley lifted their price target on shares of AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $100.67.

About AZZ

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.