AZEK (NYSE:AZEK) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of The AZEK Company Inc. (NYSE:AZEK) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on the stock from $60.00 to $58.00. The stock had previously closed at $44.92, but opened at $42.50. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. AZEK shares last traded at $43.69, with a volume of 571,543 shares traded.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AZEK. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of AZEK from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. TheStreet raised shares of AZEK from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of AZEK from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Benchmark initiated coverage on AZEK in a research report on Friday, April 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on AZEK from $50.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $44.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AZEK news, CEO Jesse G. Singh sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.34, for a total value of $589,420.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,184,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,702,690.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Michelle A. Kasson sold 94,431 shares of AZEK stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.47, for a total value of $4,671,501.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,544 shares in the company, valued at $1,164,721.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Jesse G. Singh sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.34, for a total transaction of $589,420.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,184,444 shares in the company, valued at $53,702,690.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 130,431 shares of company stock valued at $6,356,622 over the last 90 days. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AZEK

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its stake in shares of AZEK by 27.1% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 27,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 5,776 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of AZEK by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 75,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,243,000 after purchasing an additional 16,229 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of AZEK by 35.3% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,873 shares of the company’s stock worth $769,000 after purchasing an additional 6,749 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of AZEK by 31.0% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 11,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its holdings in AZEK by 13.1% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 9,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.44% of the company’s stock.

AZEK Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $6.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.38, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.99 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.31.

AZEK (NYSE:AZEK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $240.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $234.12 million. AZEK had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 8.57%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The AZEK Company Inc. will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

About AZEK

The AZEK Company Inc engages in the design, manufacturing, and selling of building products for residential, commercial, and industrial markets in the United States and Canada. It operates through two segments: Residential and Commercial. The Residential segment designs and manufactures engineered outdoor living products, such as decking, railing, trim and molding, siding and cladding, pergolas and cabanas, and accessories under the TimberTech, AZEK Exteriors, VERSATEX, ULTRALOX, StruXure, and INTEX brands.