AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Plans $0.17 Quarterly Dividend

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 3rd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.17 per share by the industrial products company on Friday, November 1st. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th.

AZZ has a dividend payout ratio of 12.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect AZZ to earn $5.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.0%.

AZZ Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of AZZ opened at $82.54 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $78.75 and its 200 day moving average is $78.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. AZZ has a 12-month low of $43.48 and a 12-month high of $88.67. The company has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of 77.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.23.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $403.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. AZZ’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that AZZ will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AZZ

In other news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,695,800. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.79, for a total value of $1,233,270.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,695,800. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Tara D. Mackey sold 331 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total value of $27,638.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,858,121.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AZZ shares. B. Riley raised their price target on AZZ from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Baird R W raised shares of AZZ to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI started coverage on shares of AZZ in a research report on Friday, June 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird began coverage on AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $90.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of AZZ in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.80.

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.