AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) gapped up prior to trading on Monday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $74.80, but opened at $78.70. AZZ shares last traded at $77.04, with a volume of 95,351 shares.

The industrial products company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.23. The firm had revenue of $366.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $351.67 million. AZZ had a return on equity of 13.15% and a net margin of 5.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.30 EPS.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 16th. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AZZ has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Noble Financial downgraded AZZ from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, B. Riley lifted their target price on AZZ from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZZ

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AZZ. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of AZZ during the third quarter worth about $389,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of AZZ by 14.7% during the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $244,000 after buying an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of AZZ by 41.2% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,789 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 1,398 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of AZZ by 2.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,079 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in AZZ during the third quarter worth approximately $485,000. 90.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AZZ Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $75.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.20. The stock has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a PE ratio of 29.98, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.33.

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.