AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $100.67.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AZZ shares. Roth Capital raised 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 research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Roth Mkm began coverage on AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 target price for the company.

AZZ Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:AZZ opened at $86.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.26. AZZ has a fifty-two week low of $69.59 and a fifty-two week high of $99.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $90.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.79. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 billion, a PE ratio of 58.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27.

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

AZZ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 13.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,223,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $266,284,000 after buying an additional 385,240 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,729,287 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $223,584,000 after buying an additional 124,392 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of AZZ by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,110,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $90,999,000 after purchasing an additional 29,306 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of AZZ by 2.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,100,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $90,887,000 after purchasing an additional 27,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of AZZ by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 882,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,279,000 after purchasing an additional 142,215 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.