AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Upgraded at Roth Capital

Roth Capital upgraded shares of AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on AZZ. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Roth Mkm began coverage on shares of AZZ in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.67.

AZZ Stock Performance

Shares of AZZ opened at $97.53 on Tuesday. 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 has a 52-week low of $67.32 and a 52-week high of $98.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.29. The company has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 65.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.30.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. The firm 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%. AZZ’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AZZ will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. AZZ’s payout ratio is 45.95%.

Institutional Trading of AZZ

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AZZ by 3,790.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in AZZ by 39.0% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in AZZ by 202.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in AZZ by 51.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings 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 valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.