AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $95.80.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AZZ shares. B. Riley upped their price target on AZZ from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wolfe Research started coverage on AZZ in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Baird R W upgraded AZZ to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $90.00 target price for the company.

AZZ Stock Down 0.9 %

AZZ opened at $75.80 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a PE ratio of 70.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.23. AZZ has a 1 year low of $44.91 and a 1 year high of $88.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.89.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $409.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $409.50 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 18.19% and a net margin of 7.63%. AZZ’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that AZZ will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AZZ

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AZZ. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of AZZ by 69.4% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $72,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.