AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $95.80.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. B. Riley lifted their price target on AZZ from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Noble Financial raised AZZ from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Baird R W raised AZZ to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on AZZ in a research note on Friday, June 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on AZZ in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AZZ 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 value of $27,638.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,229 shares in the company, valued at $2,858,121.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other AZZ news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 14,545 shares of AZZ 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,695,800. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $27,638.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 34,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,858,121.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AZZ

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its stake in AZZ by 1.2% in the first quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 14,945 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in AZZ by 69.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 188 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC grew its stake in AZZ by 7.7% in the second quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,298 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in AZZ by 38.6% in the second quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its stake in AZZ by 1.3% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 21,947 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,697,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Stock Up 0.3 %

AZZ stock opened at $82.29 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.91, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.24. AZZ has a fifty-two week low of $43.48 and a fifty-two week high of $88.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.28. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $78.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.43.

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

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.