AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• AZZ has been upgraded to a "strong-buy" rating by Wells Fargo & Company, indicating a positive outlook from analysts.
• AZZ's stock has an average target price of $110.86, with some analysts forecasting a potential upside of 25% from its recent trading levels.
• CEO Thomas E. Ferguson and COO Bryan Lee Stovall have recently sold shares in AZZ, indicating a 12.64% and 18.04% decrease in their ownership stakes, respectively.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on AZZ. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of AZZ from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Monday, July 14th. Sidoti lowered shares of AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $110.86.

AZZ Stock Performance

NYSE:AZZ opened at $112.85 on Thursday. AZZ has a 1 year low of $70.90 and a 1 year high of $117.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $102.09 and a 200-day moving average of $93.25. 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 capitalization of $3.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.85, for a total transaction of $2,939,298.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,305,724.70. This trade represents a 12.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of AZZ 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 22,709 shares in the company, 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 90 days, insiders sold 46,837 shares of company stock valued at $5,195,318. Company insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of AZZ by 4.0% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 287,595 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $27,172,000 after purchasing an additional 11,113 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in AZZ by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 26,314 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,486,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in AZZ by 60.1% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 58,388 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,516,000 after acquiring an additional 21,911 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in AZZ by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 4,398 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in AZZ in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. 90.93% of the stock is 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.

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