Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Purchases Shares of 2,058,363 The AZEK Company Inc. (NYSE:AZEK)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of The AZEK Company Inc. (NYSE:AZEK) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,058,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $86,719,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV owned 1.41% of AZEK at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its position in AZEK by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of AZEK in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new stake in shares of AZEK during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in AZEK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in AZEK by 5,452.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares during the period. 97.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AZEK Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE AZEK opened at $44.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.08. The company has a quick ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 3.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The AZEK Company Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.03 and a 52-week high of $50.78.

AZEK (NYSE:AZEK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.06. AZEK had a return on equity of 13.38% and a net margin of 11.35%. The company had revenue of $434.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. AZEK’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that The AZEK Company Inc. will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

AZEK declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Monday, June 17th that permits the company to buyback $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 9.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at AZEK

In other AZEK news, Director Pamela J. Edwards bought 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $41.70 per share, with a total value of $25,020.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $363,123.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other AZEK news, Director Pamela J. Edwards bought 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $41.70 per share, with a total value of $25,020.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 8,708 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $363,123.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jesse G. Singh sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.47, for a total value of $829,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 186,705 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,742,656.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AZEK has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of AZEK from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of AZEK in a research report on Friday, August 9th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on AZEK from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. DA Davidson cut AZEK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $57.00 to $44.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on AZEK from $49.00 to $46.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.24.

AZEK Profile

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.