Hennessy Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 10.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 118,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 13,500 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned about 0.39% of AZZ worth $9,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in AZZ by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,658 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in AZZ by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 24,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,978,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in AZZ by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,072 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $252,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Price Performance

AZZ stock opened at $89.36 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $88.16 and a 200-day moving average of $88.43. AZZ Inc. has a 12-month low of $69.59 and a 12-month high of $99.49. 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 cap of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.38, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. The firm had revenue of $351.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $367.78 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 18,851 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.91, for a total transaction of $1,694,893.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 192,607 shares in the company, valued at $17,317,295.37. The trade was a 8.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Sidoti lowered AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $101.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 9th. Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AZZ presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.67.

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.