AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a peer perform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on AZZ. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of AZZ in a report on Monday, May 20th. They set a buy rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. B. Riley upped their price objective on AZZ from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Noble Financial upgraded AZZ from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on AZZ in a research note on Friday, June 14th. They issued an outperform rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of AZZ to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $95.80.

AZZ Stock Performance

AZZ stock opened at $74.52 on Wednesday. AZZ has a 1-year low of $43.48 and a 1-year high of $88.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of 69.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $79.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.44.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.16. AZZ had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 7.22%. The company had revenue of $413.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $403.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. AZZ’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that AZZ will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 10th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.55%.

Insider Activity

In other AZZ news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,695,800. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Tara D. Mackey sold 331 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.50, for a total transaction of $27,638.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,229 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,858,121.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.79, for a total value of $1,233,270.55. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,695,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 1,511 shares of company stock valued at $52,794. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZZ. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ during the 4th quarter worth about $9,715,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in AZZ during the second quarter worth approximately $8,443,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of AZZ by 325.3% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 122,141 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,435,000 after purchasing an additional 93,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chesapeake Capital Corp IL bought a new position in shares of AZZ during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,082,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.