AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Stock Rating Lowered by Sidoti

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Sidoti from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $101.00 price target on the industrial products company's stock. Sidoti's target price would suggest a potential upside of 7.00% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Noble Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. B. Riley lifted their price target on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Capital upgraded AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm began coverage on shares of AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.71.

AZZ Price Performance

AZZ stock opened at $94.39 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.92 and a 200-day moving average of $88.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25. AZZ has a 12 month low of $69.59 and a 12 month high of $99.49.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $351.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $367.78 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that AZZ will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at AZZ

In other AZZ news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,889 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.88, for a total value of $2,309,227.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,458 shares in the company, valued at $18,160,013.04. This trade represents a 11.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 554.6% during 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. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in AZZ by 19.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AZZ in the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,612,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in AZZ by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,729,287 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $223,584,000 after acquiring an additional 124,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 650,072 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $54,353,000 after acquiring an additional 105,723 shares during the last quarter. 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.

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