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AZZ (AZZ) Registers a Bigger Fall Than the Market: Important Facts to Note

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AZZ (AZZ - Free Report) ended the recent trading session at $75.49, demonstrating a -1.36% swing from the preceding day's closing price. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.3%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.54%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.25%.

Shares of the electrical equipment maker witnessed a gain of 6.16% over the previous month, beating the performance of the Industrial Products sector with its gain of 2.49% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.42%.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of AZZ in its upcoming release. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $1.26, signifying a 0.79% drop compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $409.47 million, up 2.74% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.94 per share and revenue of $1.61 billion. These totals would mark changes of +9.05% and +4.81%, respectively, from last year.

Furthermore, it would be beneficial for investors to monitor any recent shifts in analyst projections for AZZ. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To utilize this, we have created the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model that integrates these estimate changes and provides a functional rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, running from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), holds an admirable track record of superior performance, independently audited, with #1 stocks contributing an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been no change in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. At present, AZZ boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, AZZ is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 15.51. This indicates a discount in contrast to its industry's Forward P/E of 21.53.

It is also worth noting that AZZ currently has a PEG ratio of 1.11. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Manufacturing - Electronics was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.94 at yesterday's closing price.

The Manufacturing - Electronics industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 16, putting it in the top 7% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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