AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $98.13 and last traded at $97.87, with a volume of 105535 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $95.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Roth Capital raised shares of AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. B. Riley upped their price target on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on AZZ in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Four 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, AZZ presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.67.

AZZ Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.51, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.30.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $403.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.30 million. AZZ had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 16.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Equities analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AZZ

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in AZZ by 32.4% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of AZZ by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in AZZ by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,658 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in shares of AZZ by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 24,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,978,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 51.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 694 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.