SG Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in AZZ Inc. $AZZ

SG Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 178,004 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,818,000. AZZ accounts for approximately 1.2% of SG Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of AZZ by 96.1% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $748,000 after acquiring an additional 3,880 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its position in AZZ by 7.4% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 7,680 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. acquired a new stake in AZZ in the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey increased its holdings in AZZ by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 6,778 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $640,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in AZZ by 1.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,852 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,981,000 after acquiring an additional 9,326 shares during the period. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AZZ shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on AZZ from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. B. Riley lifted their price target on AZZ from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on AZZ from $128.00 to $121.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.43.

AZZ Price Performance

NYSE:AZZ opened at $98.08 on Friday. AZZ Inc. has a one year low of $70.90 and a one year high of $119.95. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 9.43 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $105.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.45.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. AZZ had a return on equity of 15.01% and a net margin of 19.69%.The company had revenue of $129.87 million during the quarter. Equities research analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 16th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 16th. AZZ’s payout ratio is presently 7.69%.

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.