AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $155.25.

AZZ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded AZZ from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on AZZ from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on AZZ from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th.

AZZ Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AZZ opened at $133.81 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $143.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.55. AZZ has a twelve month low of $92.98 and a twelve month high of $162.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.40 and a beta of 1.11.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.05. AZZ had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 14.18%. The company had revenue of $448.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $434.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. AZZ has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.750-7.150 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that AZZ will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from AZZ’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. AZZ’s payout ratio is currently 14.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AZZ news, COO Bryan Lee Stovall sold 2,677 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.07, for a total transaction of $401,737.39. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 35,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,252,450. This trade represents a 7.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey Vellines sold 4,220 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.55, for a total transaction of $647,981.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,834 shares in the company, valued at $281,610.70. This represents a 69.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in AZZ in the 2nd quarter worth $719,876,000. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,009,812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $215,412,000 after acquiring an additional 48,565 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of AZZ by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 712,405 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $76,369,000 after acquiring an additional 2,145 shares in the last quarter. SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in shares of AZZ in the first quarter worth about $45,297,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of AZZ in the second quarter worth about $35,818,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Company Profile

AZZ Inc (NYSE: AZZ) is a provider of metal coating and coil coating solutions serving industrial and infrastructure markets. The company’s Metal Coatings segment offers hot-dip galvanizing, powder coating, anodizing and related finishing services designed to protect steel and other metal products from corrosion and extend their service life.

Through its Precoat Metals business, AZZ provides continuous coil coating services for flat-rolled steel and aluminum. Its coatings are used in products and applications including building materials, transportation equipment, appliances, consumer goods, packaging and other manufactured components.