AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Shares Sold by Moody National Bank Trust Division

Moody National Bank Trust Division lessened its stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,815 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,710 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in AZZ were worth $1,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AZZ. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in AZZ by 191.6% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,760,000 after acquiring an additional 14,975 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of AZZ by 12.2% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 7,733 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $597,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ in the 2nd quarter valued at about $116,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its position in shares of AZZ by 16.6% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 25,599 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,978,000 after purchasing an additional 3,652 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in AZZ by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 47,648 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,681,000 after buying an additional 7,940 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.80.

AZZ Stock Performance

Shares of AZZ stock opened at $82.12 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $87.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 64.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.30. AZZ Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.87 and a 52-week high of $97.98.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.10. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 7.63%. The business had revenue of $403.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current year.

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.