Empowered Funds LLC Sells 17,080 Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 84.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 17,080 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in AZZ were worth $265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted 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 during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake 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 purchased a new position in shares of AZZ during the second quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $72,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on AZZ in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AZZ currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.80.

AZZ Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AZZ opened at $95.33 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $81.76 and a 200 day moving average of $80.01. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $48.03 and a twelve month high of $97.98. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.48, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.25.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.05. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 7.63%. The firm had revenue of $409.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $409.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 5.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.13%.

AZZ 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.