B. Riley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Stock

Key Points

• B. Riley has raised its target price for AZZ from $131.00 to $140.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.73% from the current stock price.
• The stock has received a range of ratings from analysts, with two "Strong Buy," five "Buy," and three "Hold" ratings, leading to an average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• AZZ recently reported earnings of $1.78 per share, surpassing expectations, but its revenue fell short of forecasts at $421.96 million for the quarter.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Free Report) had its price objective boosted by B. Riley from $131.00 to $140.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company's stock. B. Riley also issued estimates for AZZ's Q2 2026 earnings at $1.52 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.60 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.33 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $6.23 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.90 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $1.89 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $1.94 EPS, Q4 2027 earnings at $1.62 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $7.36 EPS.

AZZ has been the topic of a number of other reports. Zacks Research cut AZZ from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on AZZ from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen cut AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Finally, Sidoti cut AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $101.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AZZ currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $116.43.

AZZ Price Performance

NYSE AZZ traded down $2.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $113.99. 666,201 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 223,736. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.00. AZZ has a 1 year low of $70.90 and a 1 year high of $119.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.21 and a beta of 1.30.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $421.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $435.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. AZZ has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.750-6.250 EPS. On average, analysts predict that AZZ will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at AZZ

In other AZZ news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,516 shares of AZZ 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 183,182 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,305,724.70. The trade was a 12.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of AZZ 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 22,709 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,534,324.40. The trade was a 18.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have 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

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AZZ. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 206.7% during the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 273 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in AZZ in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in AZZ by 110.0% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 399 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new position in AZZ in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in AZZ by 39.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 374 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.