AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $95.80.

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

AZZ Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of AZZ opened at $81.88 on Friday. AZZ has a twelve month low of $43.48 and a twelve month high of $88.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.02.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.46 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $403.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AZZ will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $27,638.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 34,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,858,121.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, 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 directly owns 34,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,858,121.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,695,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 1,511 shares of company stock worth $52,794. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in AZZ by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,726,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,750,000 after purchasing an additional 28,609 shares during the period. Intrinsic Edge Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,162,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,055,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,322,000 after purchasing an additional 106,091 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in AZZ by 325.3% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 122,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,435,000 after purchasing an additional 93,420 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in AZZ by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 19,731 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,525,000 after purchasing an additional 12,599 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

About AZZ

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.