AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four 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 twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $108.00.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AZZ. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Noble Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on AZZ from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Sidoti downgraded AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, June 9th.

AZZ Stock Down 0.0%

AZZ traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $111.87. 323,589 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 221,613. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 1.24. AZZ has a 1-year low of $69.59 and a 1-year high of $113.58. The stock's 50-day moving average is $94.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $421,962 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $435.91 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 16.40%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that AZZ will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is an increase from AZZ's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AZZ news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,889 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.88, for a total value of $2,309,227.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 211,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,160,013.04. This represents a 11.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AZZ

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in AZZ by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 17,803 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 17,808 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,682,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of AZZ by 39.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 374 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AZZ during the 2nd quarter valued at about $265,000. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AZZ during the first quarter worth approximately $1,411,000. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by 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.