AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Lowered to “Neutral” Rating by Sidoti

Sidoti downgraded shares of AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $101.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley boosted their price objective on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Capital upgraded AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on AZZ in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AZZ has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.71.

AZZ Stock Performance

AZZ opened at $92.96 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. AZZ has a 12-month low of $69.59 and a 12-month high of $99.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $87.03 and a 200-day moving average of $88.43. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.81, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.25.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. The business had revenue of $351.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $367.78 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that AZZ will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 24th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 24th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AZZ news, CEO Thomas E. Ferguson sold 26,889 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.88, for a total transaction of $2,309,227.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,458 shares in the company, valued at $18,160,013.04. This represents a 11.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of AZZ by 36.3% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166 shares in the last quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new stake in AZZ during the fourth quarter worth $1,008,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 151.9% in the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 20,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,654,000 after purchasing an additional 12,178 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AZZ by 202.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of AZZ by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 515 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.