AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Reaches New 1-Year High After Strong Earnings

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $82.41 and last traded at $81.86, with a volume of 150290 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.50.

The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.23. AZZ had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 5.63%. The company had revenue of $366.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $351.67 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. AZZ’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Noble Financial downgraded AZZ from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. B. Riley raised their price objective on AZZ from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com cut AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 4,211.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 365,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,664,000 after purchasing an additional 357,110 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of AZZ in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $485,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 4,165.2% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 410,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,694,000 after purchasing an additional 400,526 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of AZZ in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,216,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 51,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,343,000 after acquiring an additional 10,758 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.74 and a 200-day moving average of $60.93.

About AZZ

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.