AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 527,200 shares, a growth of 6.0% from the December 31st total of 497,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 187,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

AZZ Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:AZZ opened at $87.47 on Wednesday. AZZ has a 12 month low of $63.52 and a 12 month high of $97.98. The stock has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.10. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Equities analysts predict that AZZ will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Institutional Trading of AZZ

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in AZZ in the second quarter worth about $1,345,000. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,469,000. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of AZZ by 1,822.5% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 72,650 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,612,000 after acquiring an additional 68,871 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of AZZ by 22.1% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 15,972 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,234,000 after buying an additional 2,892 shares during the period. Finally, Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of AZZ in the second quarter worth approximately $215,000. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, 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 and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AZZ has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.80.

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.