AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on AZZ in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley raised their price target on AZZ from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Noble Financial cut AZZ from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $88.33.

AZZ Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE AZZ opened at $84.03 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $76.96 and a 200-day moving average of $65.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.26. AZZ has a 12 month low of $34.59 and a 12 month high of $84.80. 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 (NYSE:AZZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.23. AZZ had a return on equity of 15.66% and a net margin of 6.61%. The company had revenue of $366.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $351.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that AZZ will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AZZ

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AZZ by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,726,037 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $210,750,000 after purchasing an additional 28,609 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in AZZ by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,055,634 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,322,000 after purchasing an additional 106,091 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of AZZ by 4,165.2% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 410,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,694,000 after buying an additional 400,526 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of AZZ by 5.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 394,920 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $18,000,000 after buying an additional 18,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of AZZ by 4,211.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 365,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,664,000 after buying an additional 357,110 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is 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.