Invesco Ltd. Increases Holdings in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Invesco Ltd. increased its position in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 21.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 298,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,281 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned about 1.00% of AZZ worth $24,419,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AZZ by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its position in AZZ by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in AZZ by 4.1% during the fourth 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 position in shares of AZZ by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 24,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,978,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in AZZ by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,452 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $529,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Price Performance

AZZ stock opened at $81.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. AZZ Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.59 and a 12 month high of $99.49. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 54.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.30.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. AZZ’s payout ratio is presently 45.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZZ has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Sidoti upgraded AZZ from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $101.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Mkm started coverage on shares of AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Roth Capital upgraded AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Noble Financial restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.71.

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.