Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $22.98 and last traded at $22.5350, with a volume of 71950 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.14.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on NX shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Quanex Building Products from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Quanex Building Products in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Benchmark decreased their price target on Quanex Building Products from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Quanex Building Products from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

Quanex Building Products Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 2.04. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.58.

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. The firm had revenue of $489.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $472.62 million. Quanex Building Products had a negative net margin of 13.65% and a positive return on equity of 12.46%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Quanex Building Products Corporation will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Quanex Building Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Quanex Building Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -5.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Quanex Building Products

In other Quanex Building Products news, insider Teleios Capital Partners Gmbh sold 119,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.94, for a total transaction of $1,904,590.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,421,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,484,751.26. This trade represents a 2.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quanex Building Products

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NX. Medina Value Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quanex Building Products in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,602,000. Western Standard LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Quanex Building Products in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,219,000. IES Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Quanex Building Products during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,846,000. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its position in Quanex Building Products by 656.3% in the 4th quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 274,231 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,218,000 after buying an additional 237,972 shares during the period. Finally, Bastion Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quanex Building Products by 161.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bastion Asset Management Inc. now owns 314,601 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,093,000 after purchasing an additional 194,205 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.48% of the company’s stock.

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.