AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

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

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on AZZ shares. Roth Capital upgraded shares of AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of 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 report on Thursday, March 6th. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm started coverage on shares of AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AZZ. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 157,418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,004,000 after purchasing an additional 10,038 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 23,997 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 2,114 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 54.6% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,240 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,911,000 after purchasing an additional 12,451 shares during the last quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL now owns 16,540 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,361,000 after purchasing an additional 3,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of AZZ during the 3rd quarter valued at about $611,000. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AZZ opened at $82.24 on Friday. AZZ has a twelve month low of $69.59 and a twelve month high of $99.49. The firm has a market cap of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.57, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $90.45 and a 200 day moving average of $85.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

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

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

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.