Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Position in AZZ Inc. $AZZ

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,277,271 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 83,983 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.90% of AZZ worth $357,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZZ. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in AZZ by 206.7% in the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AZZ in the second quarter worth $30,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of AZZ during the second quarter worth $34,000. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in shares of AZZ during the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in AZZ by 40.1% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AZZ news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.29, for a total transaction of $3,182,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 158,182 shares in the company, valued at $20,134,986.78. This represents a 13.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Tara D. Mackey sold 2,923 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.00, for a total value of $397,528.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,373 shares in the company, valued at $3,042,728. This represents a 11.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,281 shares of company stock worth $4,239,080. Insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on AZZ. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $125.00 price target on shares of AZZ in a report on Friday, January 9th. Wall Street Zen raised AZZ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AZZ has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.00.

AZZ Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE AZZ opened at $134.32 on Friday. AZZ Inc. has a twelve month low of $70.90 and a twelve month high of $141.18. The firm has a market cap of $4.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.09. AZZ had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 19.89%.The firm had revenue of $425.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.39 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. AZZ has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.900-6.200 EPS. Analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 30th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 2.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 5th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 5th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.52%.

AZZ Profile

AZZ Inc, incorporated in 1956 and headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a leading provider of galvanizing and metal finishing solutions alongside electrical equipment and services. The company supports a diverse range of industries—such as energy, infrastructure, heavy equipment and general industrial markets—by delivering corrosion protection and high-performance electrical solutions designed for demanding environments.

AZZ operates two primary business segments. The Global Coatings & Services segment offers hot-dip galvanizing, metal finishing, painting, powder coating and related value-added services to steel fabricators and original equipment manufacturers.