AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $77.62, but opened at $74.97. AZZ shares last traded at $76.72, with a volume of 27,159 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Noble Financial reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of AZZ in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a "buy" rating and a $108.00 price target on the stock. Roth Capital upgraded AZZ to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Sidoti upgraded AZZ from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $101.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price target on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.71.

AZZ Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of 56.59, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $86.27 and a 200-day moving average of $86.29.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The industrial products company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $351.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $367.78 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. Research analysts predict that AZZ Inc. will post 5.13 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 24th will be given a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 24th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. AZZ's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.77%.

Institutional Trading of AZZ

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AZZ. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in AZZ by 554.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 251,823 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $20,629,000 after purchasing an additional 213,355 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 valued at $72,279,000 after purchasing an additional 142,215 shares in the last quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of AZZ during the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,612,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in AZZ by 4.8% during 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 buying an additional 124,392 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ during the fourth quarter valued at $7,798,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

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.