AZZ (AZZ) closed the most recent trading day at $105.80, moving +1.65% from the previous trading session. The stock exceeded the S&P 500, which registered a loss of 0.09% for the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a drop of 0.38%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.13%.
Shares of the electrical equipment maker have appreciated by 2.7% over the course of the past month, outperforming the Industrial Products sector's gain of 1.14%, and the S&P 500's gain of 1.89%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of AZZ in its upcoming release. In that report, analysts expect AZZ to post earnings of $1.47 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 5.76%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $417.31 million, up 3.38% from the year-ago period.
In terms of the entire fiscal year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates predict earnings of $6.05 per share and a revenue of $1.65 billion, indicating changes of +16.35% and +4.26%, respectively, from the former year.
Investors should also take note of any recent adjustments to analyst estimates 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 business outlook.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has shifted 1.09% upward. Currently, AZZ is carrying a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note AZZ's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 17.2. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 24.98, so one might conclude that AZZ is trading at a discount comparatively.
The Manufacturing - Electronics industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 40, finds itself in the top 17% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. 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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AZZ Inc. (AZZ): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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