Victory Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 191.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,975 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in AZZ were worth $1,760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,726,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,750,000 after acquiring an additional 28,609 shares during the last quarter. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AZZ in the fourth quarter worth $1,162,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in AZZ by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,055,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,322,000 after acquiring an additional 106,091 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 325.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 122,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,435,000 after purchasing an additional 93,420 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 176.7% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,525,000 after buying an additional 12,599 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AZZ Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of AZZ opened at $80.10 on Thursday. AZZ Inc. has a 1 year low of $43.48 and a 1 year high of $88.67. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.24.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.16. AZZ had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 7.22%. The firm had revenue of $413.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $403.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.55%.

Insider Activity at AZZ

In other news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.79, for a total transaction of $1,233,270.55. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,695,800. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Tara D. Mackey sold 331 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total value of $27,638.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,858,121.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.79, for a total transaction of $1,233,270.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,695,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 1,511 shares of company stock valued at $52,794. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on AZZ. Baird R W raised shares of AZZ to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird began coverage on AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. Noble Financial raised AZZ from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. B. Riley increased their target price on shares of AZZ from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of AZZ in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.80.

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.