AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Short Interest Update

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,100,000 shares, a growth of 86.4% from the February 13th total of 590,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 221,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.0 days. Currently, 3.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

AZZ Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AZZ traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $86.63. 259,293 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 243,467. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $90.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.53, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.77. AZZ has a one year low of $69.59 and a one year high of $99.49.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 7th. The industrial products company reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.10. AZZ had a return on equity of 16.99% and a net margin of 7.94%. The firm had revenue of $403.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $394.30 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that AZZ will post 5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AZZ. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in AZZ by 3,790.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 389 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in AZZ by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in AZZ by 202.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in AZZ by 2,150.0% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 855 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in AZZ by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,244 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the period. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AZZ. Roth Capital raised AZZ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on AZZ from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Noble Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of AZZ in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Mkm began coverage on AZZ in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, B. Riley upped their price objective on AZZ from $99.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.67.

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.