AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Short Interest Down 6.5% in September

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 767,700 shares, a drop of 6.5% from the August 31st total of 821,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 239,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at AZZ

In other AZZ news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,233,270.55. Following the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other AZZ news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,233,270.55. Following the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Tara D. Mackey sold 331 shares of the firm’s 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 approximately $2,858,121.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in AZZ in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,777,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter valued at $52,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter valued at $67,000. Delphi Management Inc. MA boosted its stake in shares of AZZ by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Delphi Management Inc. MA now owns 23,685 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,830,000 after buying an additional 2,521 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter valued at $548,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of AZZ to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of AZZ from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of AZZ in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, June 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.80.

AZZ Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AZZ opened at $82.29 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.91, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.24. AZZ has a 1-year low of $43.48 and a 1-year high of $88.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $78.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.47.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $413.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $403.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that AZZ will post 4.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.