AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Hits New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• AZZ Inc.'s stock reached a new 52-week high at $114.78, with analysts projecting a potential upside of 25% from the current levels.
• The company recently posted quarterly earnings of $1.78 EPS, surpassing estimates, but revenue slightly fell short of expectations.
• AZZ announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.17 to $0.20 per share, reflecting its continued commitment to returning value to shareholders.

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $114.60 and last traded at $114.78, with a volume of 16487 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $113.57.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on AZZ from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Sidoti downgraded 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. 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Noble Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $108.00.

AZZ Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $101.23 and a 200-day moving average of $92.91.

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

AZZ Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders 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 an increase from AZZ's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AZZ's payout ratio is currently 9.27%.

Insider Transactions at AZZ

In other AZZ news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.85, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 12.64% 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, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.60, for a total value of $558,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 22,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,837 shares of company stock valued at $5,195,318. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in AZZ by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 11,261 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $923,000 after purchasing an additional 704 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in AZZ by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 33,847 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,773,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in AZZ by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 31,854 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,610,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in AZZ by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,749 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $799,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in AZZ by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,452 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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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