VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $2.29 Million in AZZ Inc. $AZZ

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 14,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,295,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AZZ. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of AZZ by 3.7% during the second quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in AZZ by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 6,882 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 10,593 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 92.5% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 258 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey Vellines sold 4,220 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.55, for a total transaction of $647,981.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $281,610.70. This represents a 69.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 2,677 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.07, for a total value of $401,737.39. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 35,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,252,450. This represents a 7.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AZZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on AZZ from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of AZZ from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on shares of AZZ from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.25.

AZZ Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:AZZ opened at $136.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. AZZ Inc. has a 12-month low of $92.98 and a 12-month high of $162.20. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.59.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $448.53 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $434.58 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 14.18% and a net margin of 11.83%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. AZZ has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.750-7.150 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. This is a positive change from AZZ’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.63%.

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.