Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 19,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,121,000. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC owned 0.08% of AZZ as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 131.5% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 903 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in AZZ during the 4th quarter worth about $197,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in AZZ during the 3rd quarter valued at about $203,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 41.2% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 1,398 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beddow Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in AZZ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $238,000. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on AZZ. Noble Financial lowered shares of AZZ from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. B. Riley upped their target price on AZZ from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded AZZ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th.

AZZ Price Performance

NYSE:AZZ traded down $1.05 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $71.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,039,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 243,260. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $75.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.98. AZZ Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.59 and a 52-week high of $84.52.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.23. AZZ had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 15.66%. The business had revenue of $366.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $351.67 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. AZZ’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.83%.

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.