AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered AZZ from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $127.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on AZZ from $167.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Noble Financial reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 target price on shares of AZZ in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on AZZ from $125.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.80.

AZZ Trading Down 4.2%

Shares of AZZ opened at $141.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. AZZ has a 12-month low of $86.67 and a 12-month high of $151.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of 13.44 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $133.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.58.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.15. AZZ had a return on equity of 14.47% and a net margin of 19.23%.The business had revenue of $385.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $382.24 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. AZZ has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.500-7.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AZZ will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 23rd were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 23rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.62%.

AZZ announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, January 30th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 2.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AZZ

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AZZ. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 8.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 12,619 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,055,000 after buying an additional 1,024 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 26.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,213 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $519,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 17,488 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 21.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 84,076 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,030,000 after buying an additional 14,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AZZ by 185.9% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 51,122 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,274,000 after buying an additional 33,238 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

About AZZ

AZZ Inc, incorporated in 1956 and headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a leading provider of galvanizing and metal finishing solutions alongside electrical equipment and services. The company supports a diverse range of industries—such as energy, infrastructure, heavy equipment and general industrial markets—by delivering corrosion protection and high-performance electrical solutions designed for demanding environments.

AZZ operates two primary business segments. The Global Coatings & Services segment offers hot-dip galvanizing, metal finishing, painting, powder coating and related value-added services to steel fabricators and original equipment manufacturers.