Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX) was the target of a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,100,051 shares, a decline of 30.3% from the December 15th total of 3,014,034 shares. Approximately 4.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,003,906 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Based on an average trading volume of 1,003,906 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Approximately 4.7% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Teleios Capital Partners Gmbh sold 119,485 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.94, for a total value of $1,904,590.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,421,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,484,751.26. This represents a 2.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.15% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Quanex Building Products

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in Quanex Building Products by 32.9% in the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 548,831 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $10,373,000 after purchasing an additional 135,875 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Quanex Building Products by 25.0% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,060 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 4,009 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Quanex Building Products during the second quarter worth approximately $455,000. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Quanex Building Products by 6.7% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,283,079 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $24,250,000 after buying an additional 80,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bastion Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quanex Building Products by 161.3% in the second quarter. Bastion Asset Management Inc. now owns 314,601 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,093,000 after buying an additional 194,205 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark reduced their price objective on Quanex Building Products from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Quanex Building Products in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Quanex Building Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 10th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Quanex Building Products from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Quanex Building Products Stock Performance

Shares of NX stock traded up $0.12 on Friday, reaching $18.69. The stock had a trading volume of 729,477 shares, compared to its average volume of 628,921. Quanex Building Products has a 12 month low of $11.04 and a 12 month high of $24.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $853.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $14.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 11th. The construction company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.33. Quanex Building Products had a positive return on equity of 12.46% and a negative net margin of 13.65%.The business had revenue of $489.85 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $472.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Quanex Building Products will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quanex Building Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Quanex Building Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently -5.83%.

Quanex Building Products Company Profile

Quanex Building Products Corporation engages in the design, manufacture and distribution of components for the window, door and building products industries in North America. The company operates through two primary segments: Window Products and Door & Building Products. Its Window Products segment supplies vinyl window profiles and related accessories, while its Door & Building Products segment offers engineered door skins, panels, siding products, specialty moldings and other exterior building components.

Within its Window Products segment, Quanex produces extrusion profiles used by window fabricators to assemble vinyl casement, double-hung, slider and picture windows.