AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $99.49 and last traded at $99.17, with a volume of 187724 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $97.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Roth Capital raised shares of AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. B. Riley boosted their price target on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Mkm started coverage on AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.67.

AZZ Stock Up 1.2 %

The company has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The business’s 50 day moving average is $88.05 and its 200 day moving average is $83.97.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $403.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.30 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AZZ

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in AZZ by 3,790.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in AZZ by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in AZZ by 202.5% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in AZZ by 51.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in AZZ by 2,150.0% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.