AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Short Interest Down 16.4% in March

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 920,100 shares, a drop of 16.4% from the February 28th total of 1,100,000 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 248,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AZZ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Roth Mkm began coverage on shares of AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. B. Riley upped their target price on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Roth Capital raised AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AZZ has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.67.

AZZ Trading Up 1.9 %

AZZ stock traded up $1.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $87.45. The stock had a trading volume of 284,783 shares, compared to its average volume of 247,451. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $90.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a PE ratio of 59.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. AZZ has a 12-month low of $69.59 and a 12-month high of $99.49.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.10. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. The business had revenue of $403.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that AZZ will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. AZZ’s payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AZZ

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AZZ. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in AZZ during the third quarter worth approximately $61,139,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of AZZ by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,223,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $266,284,000 after buying an additional 385,240 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of AZZ by 554.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 251,823 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,629,000 after buying an additional 213,355 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in AZZ in the fourth quarter valued at $10,612,000. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in AZZ by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,729,287 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $223,584,000 after acquiring an additional 124,392 shares during the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is 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.