AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• AZZ Inc. has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from ten brokerage firms, with several ratings changes reflecting a mix of buy, hold, and strong buy recommendations.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.20 per share, up from $0.17, resulting in a 0.7% dividend yield.
• In its latest earnings report, AZZ Inc. reported $1.78 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations, although revenue was slightly below consensus estimates.

Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $112.2857.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AZZ. Sidoti lowered AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Zacks Research downgraded AZZ from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen raised AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th.

AZZ Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of AZZ stock opened at $116.90 on Friday. AZZ has a 1 year low of $70.90 and a 1 year high of $118.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $109.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.55 and a beta of 1.30.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.19. AZZ had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 16.40%.The company had revenue of $421.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $435.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. AZZ has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.750-6.250 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that AZZ will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from AZZ's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AZZ's payout ratio is presently 9.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Kurt L. Russell sold 10,321 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.21, for a total transaction of $1,158,119.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,804 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,885,576.84. The trade was a 38.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.85, for a total value of $2,939,298.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,305,724.70. This trade represents a 12.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,837 shares of company stock valued at $5,195,318. Insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZZ. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in AZZ by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 352,225 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $28,854,000 after acquiring an additional 64,023 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in AZZ in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in AZZ by 554.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 251,823 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $20,629,000 after acquiring an additional 213,355 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in AZZ by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,792 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers acquired a new position in AZZ in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company's stock.

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.

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