AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Shares Gap Down to $82.43

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $82.43, but opened at $77.17. AZZ shares last traded at $75.71, with a volume of 109,366 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com upgraded AZZ from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Noble Financial lowered shares of AZZ from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, B. Riley raised their target price on shares of AZZ from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday.

AZZ Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $75.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.43.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $366.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $351.67 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 6.61%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AZZ

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AZZ. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AZZ during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in AZZ by 131.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 903 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in AZZ during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new position in AZZ during the first quarter valued at $237,000. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in AZZ in the fourth quarter worth $197,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

AZZ Company Profile

AZZ Inc provides hot-dip galvanizing and coil coating solutions in the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, and India. The company operates through AZZ Metal Coatings and AZZ Precoat Metals segments. The AZZ Metal Coatings segment offers metal finishing solutions for corrosion protection, including hot-dip galvanizing, spin galvanizing, powder coating, anodizing, and plating to steel fabrication and other industries.