AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 1,248,757 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 577% from the previous session’s volume of 184,435 shares.The stock last traded at $71.14 and had previously closed at $73.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AZZ. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of AZZ from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of AZZ from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Noble Financial downgraded shares of AZZ from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 22nd.

AZZ Trading Down 2.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a fifty day moving average of $75.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.43.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $366.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $351.67 million. AZZ had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 15.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that AZZ Inc. will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be issued a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 16th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.83%.

Institutional Trading of AZZ

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in AZZ by 4,211.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 365,590 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,664,000 after purchasing an additional 357,110 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of AZZ during the 3rd quarter worth $485,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of AZZ by 4,165.2% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 410,142 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,694,000 after buying an additional 400,526 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AZZ in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,216,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in AZZ by 26.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 51,396 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,343,000 after acquiring an additional 10,758 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

AZZ Company Profile

AZZ Inc provides hot-dip galvanizing and coil coating solutions in the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, and India. The company operates through AZZ Metal Coatings and AZZ Precoat Metals segments. The AZZ Metal Coatings segment offers metal finishing solutions for corrosion protection, including hot-dip galvanizing, spin galvanizing, powder coating, anodizing, and plating to steel fabrication and other industries.