AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Short Interest Update

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 527,200 shares, an increase of 6.0% from the December 15th total of 497,200 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 187,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Institutional Trading of AZZ

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of AZZ during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $61,139,000. FMR LLC raised its position in AZZ by 13.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,223,391 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $266,284,000 after acquiring an additional 385,240 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in AZZ during the fourth quarter worth $7,798,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in AZZ by 1,822.5% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 72,650 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,612,000 after purchasing an additional 68,871 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AZZ in the second quarter valued at about $4,969,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

AZZ Stock Performance

AZZ stock traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $87.61. The company had a trading volume of 96,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 161,287. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.30. AZZ has a twelve month low of $57.16 and a twelve month high of $97.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.27.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. AZZ had a net margin of 7.94% and a return on equity of 16.99%. The business had revenue of $403.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that AZZ will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. AZZ's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $96.80.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.