Harvey Partners LLC Trims Stake in AZZ Inc. $AZZ

Harvey Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 600,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 46,725 shares during the quarter. AZZ makes up approximately 5.6% of Harvey Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Harvey Partners LLC’s holdings in AZZ were worth $56,714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in AZZ in the second quarter valued at about $16,818,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter worth about $11,701,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of AZZ during the 1st quarter worth about $8,772,000. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,909,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in AZZ by 185.9% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 51,122 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 33,238 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AZZ Price Performance

AZZ stock opened at $107.24 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.39. AZZ Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.90 and a 1 year high of $119.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

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

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 16th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of AZZ from $128.00 to $121.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 10th. B. Riley raised their price objective on AZZ from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Zacks Research downgraded AZZ from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on AZZ from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AZZ currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.33.

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.