Short Interest in AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Drops By 16.4%

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of 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. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 248,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AZZ. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in AZZ by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 882,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $72,279,000 after buying an additional 142,215 shares in the last quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of AZZ by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 19,126 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,567,000 after acquiring an additional 6,007 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in AZZ during the 4th quarter worth about $2,514,000. PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new position in AZZ in the 4th quarter valued at about $297,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in AZZ by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 69,111 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,662,000 after purchasing an additional 9,531 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Noble Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Capital upgraded AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Mkm assumed coverage on AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price target on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.67.

AZZ Price Performance

AZZ stock traded down $3.90 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $77.07. 344,167 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 249,466. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $89.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.46. The stock has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.07, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22. AZZ has a fifty-two week low of $69.59 and a fifty-two week high of $99.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.77.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $394.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that AZZ will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.95%.

About AZZ

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.