AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Short Interest Update

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 767,000 shares, a decline of 16.6% from the March 15th total of 920,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 264,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Roth Capital upgraded shares of AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Sidoti raised shares of AZZ from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $101.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Noble Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. B. Riley boosted their target price on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Roth Mkm assumed coverage on shares of AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.71.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AZZ

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AZZ. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in AZZ by 4.8% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 124,392 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in AZZ by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,110,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $90,999,000 after acquiring an additional 29,306 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in AZZ by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 882,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,279,000 after acquiring an additional 142,215 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in AZZ by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 675,603 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,823,000 after buying an additional 10,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in AZZ by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 352,225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,854,000 after buying an additional 64,023 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Stock Down 1.1 %

AZZ stock opened at $81.08 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $87.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.38. AZZ has a twelve month low of $69.59 and a twelve month high of $99.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.78, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 24th. AZZ’s payout ratio is 45.95%.

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.