AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Cut to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• AZZ has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, following mixed recommendations from several analysts including upgrades and downgrades from other firms.
• The company's most recent quarterly earnings reported an EPS of $1.78, surpassing analysts' expectations, while revenue of $421.96 million fell short of the projected $435.91 million.
• Insider trading activity reveals significant stock sales by the CEO and COO, with a reported decrease in their ownership percentages after recent transactions.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Sidoti downgraded shares of AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, June 9th. Noble Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of AZZ from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.29.

AZZ Stock Down 1.9%

AZZ opened at $117.25 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $111.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.10. AZZ has a one year low of $70.90 and a one year high of $119.95.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AZZ news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,305,724.70. The trade was a 12.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.60, for a total transaction of $558,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 22,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,534,324.40. This represents a 18.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,837 shares of company stock valued at $5,195,318 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of AZZ

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in AZZ by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 882,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $72,279,000 after purchasing an additional 142,215 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AZZ by 1.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 708,852 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $66,981,000 after acquiring an additional 9,326 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in shares of AZZ by 19.4% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 650,072 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $54,353,000 after acquiring an additional 105,723 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of AZZ by 4.0% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 287,595 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,172,000 after acquiring an additional 11,113 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of AZZ by 2.1% in the second quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 259,272 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $24,496,000 after acquiring an additional 5,301 shares during the period. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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