Insider Buying: AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) Insider Buys $16,025.73 in Stock

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) insider Tara D. Mackey bought 469 shares of AZZ stock in a transaction on Sunday, June 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $34.17 per share, for a total transaction of $16,025.73. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 34,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,180,915.20. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

AZZ Stock Performance

AZZ stock opened at $81.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of 76.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.25. AZZ Inc. has a 12-month low of $42.55 and a 12-month high of $86.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.87.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 10th. The industrial products company reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $413.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $403.25 million. AZZ had a net margin of 7.22% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that AZZ Inc. will post 4.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AZZ Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 10th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. AZZ’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AZZ

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of AZZ by 69.4% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 459 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ in the 1st quarter worth $77,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of AZZ in the 1st quarter worth $92,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in AZZ by 253.0% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,026 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $157,000 after buying an additional 1,452 shares in the last quarter. 90.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AZZ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Noble Financial upgraded AZZ from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on AZZ in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI started coverage on AZZ in a research report on Friday, June 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price target on AZZ from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.75.

AZZ Company Profile

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.