AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Short Interest Update

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 530,800 shares, a decline of 31.3% from the September 30th total of 772,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 171,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on AZZ. Baird R W upgraded AZZ to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on AZZ in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Finally, B. Riley upped their price target on shares of AZZ from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AZZ currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AZZ. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 69.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 459 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AZZ by 7.7% during the second quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 3,298 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of AZZ by 38.6% during the second quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 951 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of AZZ by 1.3% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 21,947 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,697,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AZZ by 7.4% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.93% of the company's stock.

AZZ Price Performance

AZZ traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $76.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 65,564 shares, compared to its average volume of 233,621. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.23. The business's 50-day moving average price is $79.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. AZZ has a 12 month low of $45.62 and a 12 month high of $88.67.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 9th. The industrial products company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $409.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $409.50 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 18.19% and a net margin of 7.63%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that AZZ will post 4.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. AZZ's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.55%.

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.

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