AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Price Target Raised to $120.00

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) had its price objective raised by Robert W. Baird from $110.00 to $120.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AZZ. Sidoti cut AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $101.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AZZ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of AZZ from $90.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AZZ presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $112.29.

AZZ Stock Performance

Shares of AZZ stock opened at $112.59 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $102.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.30. AZZ has a 52-week low of $70.90 and a 52-week high of $117.35.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.19. AZZ had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 16.40%. The business had revenue of $421,962 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $435.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AZZ will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This is an increase from AZZ’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.60, for a total value of $558,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 22,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,534,324.40. The trade was a 18.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Kurt L. Russell sold 10,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.21, for a total transaction of $1,158,119.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 16,804 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,885,576.84. This represents a 38.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 46,837 shares of company stock valued at $5,195,318. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AZZ

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AZZ. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 11,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $923,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of AZZ by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 31,854 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,610,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AZZ by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,749 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $799,000 after buying an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of AZZ by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,452 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of AZZ by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 298,084 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,419,000 after purchasing an additional 52,281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

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.