AZEK (NYSE:AZEK) Raised to “Buy” at Citigroup

AZEK (NYSE:AZEK) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage currently has a $60.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $51.00. Citigroup’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 23.05% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on AZEK. Loop Capital downgraded AZEK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $47.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of AZEK in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of AZEK from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on AZEK from $52.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on AZEK from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.73.

AZEK Price Performance

AZEK stock opened at $48.76 on Monday. AZEK has a 52-week low of $35.48 and a 52-week high of $54.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $6.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.94. The business has a fifty day moving average of $49.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AZEK news, CMO Samara Toole sold 1,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.00, for a total transaction of $90,577.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 16,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $881,496. This trade represents a 9.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jesse G. Singh sold 20,000 shares of AZEK stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.32, for a total transaction of $1,066,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 923,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,255,149.80. This represents a 2.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AZEK

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of AZEK by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 851 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in AZEK by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,999,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,564,000 after buying an additional 90,206 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in AZEK by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $495,000 after buying an additional 4,352 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in AZEK by 97.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 11,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 5,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of AZEK by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 57,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,700,000 after acquiring an additional 5,815 shares during the period. 97.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AZEK

The AZEK Company Inc engages in the design, manufacturing, and selling of building products for residential, commercial, and industrial markets in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments: Residential and Commercial. The Residential segment designs and manufactures engineered outdoor living products, such as decking, railing, trim and molding, siding and cladding, pergolas and cabanas, and accessories under the TimberTech, AZEK Exteriors, VERSATEX, ULTRALOX, StruXure, and INTEX brands.