Robert W. Baird Issues Positive Forecast for AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Stock Price

Key Points

• Analysts at Robert W. Baird have raised the price target for AZZ from $110.00 to $120.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.02% from the stock's previous close.
• AZZ reported earnings of $1.78 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a year-over-year revenue increase of 2.1%.
• Insider trading shows significant sales, with CEO Thomas E. Ferguson selling 26,516 shares, reflecting a 12.64% decrease in his stock ownership.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) had its target price upped by Robert W. Baird from $110.00 to $120.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the industrial products company's stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on AZZ. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Sidoti cut shares of AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen raised AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.29.

AZZ Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of AZZ traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $113.02. The stock had a trading volume of 165,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 319,102. AZZ has a 1-year low of $70.90 and a 1-year high of $117.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.72. 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 (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.19. AZZ had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 16.40%. The business had revenue of $421,962 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $435.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that AZZ will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.60, for a total transaction of $558,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Kurt L. Russell sold 10,321 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 16,804 shares in the company, valued at $1,885,576.84. This trade represents a 38.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 46,837 shares of company stock valued at $5,195,318. Company insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake 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 during the period. SG Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of AZZ in the second quarter worth about $16,818,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of AZZ by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 882,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $72,279,000 after purchasing an additional 142,215 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,612,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AZZ by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,729,287 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $223,584,000 after buying an additional 124,392 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

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.