Brokerages Set AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) PT at $116.33

Shares of AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $116.3333.

Several brokerages have issued reports on AZZ. B. Riley raised their price objective on AZZ from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of AZZ from $128.00 to $121.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 10th.

AZZ Stock Performance

Shares of AZZ stock opened at $108.17 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. AZZ has a 52 week low of $70.90 and a 52 week high of $119.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $102.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.40 and a beta of 1.13.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 9th. The industrial products company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $129.87 million during the quarter. AZZ had a net margin of 19.69% and a return on equity of 15.01%. Research analysts forecast that AZZ will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 16th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 16th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is 7.69%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its position in AZZ by 157.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 182,960 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $19,966,000 after buying an additional 111,942 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ in the third quarter valued at about $346,000. Hancock Whitney Corp acquired a new position in shares of AZZ during the third quarter worth about $229,000. Harvest Investment Services LLC raised its holdings in AZZ by 279.3% during the third quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC now owns 35,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,925,000 after purchasing an additional 26,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in AZZ by 2.2% during the third quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 24,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,721,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.