Jeffrey Vellines Sells 4,220 Shares of AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) Stock

AZZ Inc. (NYSE:AZZ) COO Jeffrey Vellines sold 4,220 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.55, for a total value of $647,981.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $281,610.70. This trade represents a 69.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

AZZ Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE AZZ opened at $151.41 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08 and a beta of 1.12. AZZ Inc. has a 52 week low of $92.98 and a 52 week high of $162.20.

AZZ (NYSE:AZZ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 8th. The industrial products company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.05. AZZ had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 14.18%. The firm had revenue of $448.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $434.58 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.78 earnings per share. AZZ’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. AZZ has set its FY 2027 guidance at 6.750-7.150 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that AZZ Inc. will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current year.

AZZ Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from AZZ’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. AZZ’s payout ratio is 14.63%.

Institutional Trading of AZZ

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of AZZ during the second quarter worth $719,876,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of AZZ by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,357,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $359,843,000 after buying an additional 80,099 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in AZZ by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 2,009,812 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $215,412,000 after acquiring an additional 48,565 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in AZZ by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,783,663 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $191,174,000 after acquiring an additional 15,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in AZZ by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,182,140 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $126,706,000 after acquiring an additional 49,509 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.93% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AZZ. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on AZZ from $125.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 target price on shares of AZZ in a research report on Monday, April 27th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on AZZ from $169.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on AZZ from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded AZZ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AZZ currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.25.

About AZZ

AZZ Inc, incorporated in 1956 and headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is a leading provider of galvanizing and metal finishing solutions alongside electrical equipment and services. The company supports a diverse range of industries—such as energy, infrastructure, heavy equipment and general industrial markets—by delivering corrosion protection and high-performance electrical solutions designed for demanding environments.

AZZ operates two primary business segments. The Global Coatings & Services segment offers hot-dip galvanizing, metal finishing, painting, powder coating and related value-added services to steel fabricators and original equipment manufacturers.