AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $100.67.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Roth Capital upgraded AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their target price on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

AZZ Stock Up 0.2 %

AZZ stock opened at $96.37 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $88.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.79. The company has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.30. AZZ has a twelve month low of $69.59 and a twelve month high of $99.49.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. The company had revenue of $403.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that AZZ will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. AZZ’s payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZZ. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in AZZ in the 3rd quarter valued at $61,139,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in AZZ by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,223,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $266,284,000 after acquiring an additional 385,240 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in AZZ by 554.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in AZZ in the 4th quarter valued at $10,612,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in AZZ by 4.8% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.