AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $95.80.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of AZZ in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of AZZ to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Noble Financial upgraded shares of AZZ from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price objective on AZZ from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling at AZZ

In related news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.79, for a total transaction of $1,233,270.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,695,800. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other AZZ news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.79, for a total transaction of $1,233,270.55. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,695,800. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Tara D. Mackey sold 331 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total transaction of $27,638.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,858,121.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 1,511 shares of company stock worth $52,794. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of AZZ during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,715,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in AZZ by 81,999.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 153,526 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,860,000 after purchasing an additional 153,339 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of AZZ during the second quarter worth about $8,443,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in AZZ by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,055,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,322,000 after buying an additional 106,091 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 325.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 122,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,435,000 after purchasing an additional 93,420 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

AZZ Trading Down 0.9 %

AZZ stock opened at $81.88 on Friday. AZZ has a 12 month low of $43.48 and a 12 month high of $88.67. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $79.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.16. AZZ had a net margin of 7.22% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The company had revenue of $413.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $403.25 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AZZ will post 4.93 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. AZZ’s payout ratio is 63.55%.

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.