Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) Trading Down 9.3% – What’s Next?

Shares of Quanex Building Products Co. (NYSE:NX) were down 9.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $18.90 and last traded at $18.53. Approximately 204,320 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 419,791 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut Quanex Building Products from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, December 22nd.

Quanex Building Products Trading Up 2.4 %

The company has a market cap of $901.93 million, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $21.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The construction company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.08. Quanex Building Products had a return on equity of 11.79% and a net margin of 2.59%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Quanex Building Products Co. will post 2.18 EPS for the current year.

Quanex Building Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Quanex Building Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Quanex Building Products news, CEO George Laverne Wilson acquired 4,328 shares of Quanex Building Products stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.03 per share, for a total transaction of $99,673.84. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 287,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,624,441.32. This represents a 1.53 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quanex Building Products

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NX. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Quanex Building Products by 779.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,956,454 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $47,424,000 after acquiring an additional 1,733,932 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Quanex Building Products during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,380,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Quanex Building Products by 716.4% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 1,111,464 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,942,000 after purchasing an additional 975,324 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Quanex Building Products by 442.5% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 891,457 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $21,609,000 after purchasing an additional 727,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Quanex Building Products by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,988,029 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $48,190,000 after purchasing an additional 449,646 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.48% of the company’s stock.

Quanex Building Products Company Profile

Quanex Building Products Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides components for the fenestration industry in the United States, rest of Europe, Canada, Asia, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North American Fenestration, European Fenestration, and North American Cabinet Components.