AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Issues Earnings Results

Key Points

• AZZ exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting earnings per share of $2.00 versus the $1.86 consensus estimate and revenue of $486.89 million compared with forecasts of $463.44 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, equivalent to $0.96 annually and a 0.7% yield; the dividend is payable November 5 to shareholders of record October 19.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with four Buy and two Hold ratings, an overall “Moderate Buy” consensus, and an average price target of $155.25.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The industrial products company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.86 by $0.14, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $486.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $463.44 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 14.18% and a net margin of 11.83%.

AZZ Price Performance

NYSE AZZ traded down $0.46 on Tuesday, reaching $137.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 429,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 231,280. AZZ has a 52 week low of $94.61 and a 52 week high of $162.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $140.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.92.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 5th. Investors of record on Monday, October 19th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 19th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. AZZ's payout ratio is presently 14.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AZZ shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on AZZ from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on AZZ from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut AZZ from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $155.25.

Insider Transactions at AZZ

In other news, COO Jeffrey Vellines sold 4,220 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.55, for a total value of $647,981.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,834 shares in the company, valued at approximately $281,610.70. This represents a 69.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 2,677 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.07, for a total value of $401,737.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 35,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,252,450. The trade was a 7.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About AZZ

AZZ Inc is a provider of metal coating solutions serving customers primarily in North America. The company operates through its Metal Coatings and Precoat Metals segments, helping protect and enhance the performance, appearance, and durability of steel and other metal products used across a range of industries.

Through its Metal Coatings segment, AZZ provides hot-dip galvanizing, powder coating, anodizing, plating, and related coating services. These treatments are used for corrosion protection and finishing applications involving infrastructure, construction, industrial, transportation, and other metal products.

Precoat Metals provides coil coating services for steel and aluminum products before they are fabricated.

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