AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 816,200 shares, a growth of 13.0% from the June 30th total of 722,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 383,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of AZZ in a research report on Friday, June 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Noble Financial upgraded shares of AZZ from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of AZZ from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of AZZ in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.80.

AZZ Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of AZZ stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $82.20. The stock had a trading volume of 111,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 262,607. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $80.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.82. AZZ has a 52-week low of $43.48 and a 52-week high of $88.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of 76.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.16. AZZ had a net margin of 7.22% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The company had revenue of $413.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $403.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. AZZ’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that AZZ will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 10th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.55%.

Insider Transactions at AZZ

In other news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.79, for a total transaction of $1,233,270.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,695,800. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Tara D. Mackey sold 331 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total value of $27,638.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 34,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,858,121.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.79, for a total transaction of $1,233,270.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,695,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,511 shares of company stock valued at $52,794. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AZZ. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of AZZ during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,715,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AZZ during the second quarter valued at about $8,443,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in AZZ by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,055,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,322,000 after acquiring an additional 106,091 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in AZZ by 325.3% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 122,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,435,000 after acquiring an additional 93,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chesapeake Capital Corp IL bought a new stake in AZZ during the fourth quarter worth about $2,082,000. 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 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.