Hodges Capital Management Inc. Invests $1.41 Million in AZZ Inc. $AZZ

Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 16,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,411,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 110.0% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 1,121.3% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 140.1% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 639 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in AZZ by 97.0% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Widmann Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in AZZ in the first quarter valued at approximately $204,000. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AZZ Price Performance

Shares of AZZ opened at $117.25 on Friday. AZZ Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.90 and a 52-week high of $119.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.51. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $111.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.28. The firm has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 1.30.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.19. AZZ had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 16.40%.The firm had revenue of $421.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $435.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. AZZ has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.750-6.250 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is a positive change from AZZ’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. AZZ’s payout ratio is currently 9.27%.

Insider Transactions at AZZ

In other news, insider Kurt L. Russell sold 10,321 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.21, for a total transaction of $1,158,119.41. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,885,576.84. This represents a 38.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.85, for a total value of $2,939,298.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,182 shares in the company, valued at $20,305,724.70. The trade was a 12.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,837 shares of company stock valued at $5,195,318 over the last ninety days. 1.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Sidoti cut AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $101.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 9th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird upped 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. Finally, Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Monday, July 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AZZ presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.29.

AZZ Company 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.