AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 418,700 shares, a drop of 21.1% from the October 15th total of 530,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 163,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

AZZ Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AZZ traded down $0.90 on Friday, hitting $82.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 252,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 229,679. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.85 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $79.95 and a 200-day moving average of $79.26. AZZ has a 12-month low of $48.03 and a 12-month high of $88.67. The company has a market capitalization of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.25.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. AZZ had a net margin of 7.63% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company had revenue of $409.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $409.50 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that AZZ will post 5.11 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. AZZ's payout ratio is 53.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 385,240 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in AZZ by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,726,037 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $210,750,000 after buying an additional 28,609 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of AZZ by 4.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,147,513 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $88,646,000 after acquiring an additional 53,188 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of AZZ by 2.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,100,189 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $90,887,000 after acquiring an additional 27,710 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in shares of AZZ in the 3rd quarter valued at $61,139,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AZZ. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of AZZ in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Baird R W raised AZZ to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AZZ currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.80.

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.