AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Short Interest Up 86.4% in February

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,100,000 shares, a growth of 86.4% from the February 13th total of 590,100 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 221,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AZZ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Roth Mkm initiated 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. Roth Capital raised shares of AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. B. Riley boosted their price objective on shares of AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Noble Financial restated an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AZZ currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.67.

AZZ Price Performance

Shares of AZZ stock traded down $3.11 on Tuesday, hitting $83.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 225,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 232,759. AZZ has a 52-week low of $69.59 and a 52-week high of $99.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $90.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.87. The company has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27.

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AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that AZZ will post 5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in AZZ by 3,790.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in AZZ by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in AZZ by 202.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in AZZ by 2,150.0% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 855 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in AZZ by 50.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,244 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.