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

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

AZZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Capital raised shares of AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Mkm started coverage on shares of AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on shares of AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AZZ. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of AZZ by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AZZ by 202.5% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AZZ by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of AZZ by 2,150.0% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of AZZ by 50.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,244 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AZZ Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of AZZ opened at $83.59 on Friday. AZZ has a 1-year low of $69.59 and a 1-year high of $99.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.48, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $90.48 and a 200 day moving average of $85.84.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $403.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AZZ will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.