AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Reaches New 12-Month High After Strong Earnings

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $82.41 and last traded at $81.86, with a volume of 150290 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $76.50.

The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $366.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $351.67 million. AZZ had a net margin of 5.63% and a return on equity of 13.15%. AZZ’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.30 EPS.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AZZ shares. StockNews.com cut shares of AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Noble Financial cut shares of AZZ from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, B. Riley upped their price target on shares of AZZ from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in AZZ in the 3rd quarter valued at about $389,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in AZZ by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $244,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in AZZ by 41.2% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 1,398 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in AZZ by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,079 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in AZZ in the 3rd quarter valued at about $485,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AZZ Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $75.03 and its 200 day moving average is $61.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

AZZ Company Profile

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.