StockNews.com Downgrades Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

Separately, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Quanex Building Products in a report on Wednesday, September 11th.

Quanex Building Products Stock Performance

NX traded down $0.68 on Friday, hitting $28.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,147,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 301,933. Quanex Building Products has a 12 month low of $24.85 and a 12 month high of $39.31. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $29.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.01.

Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The construction company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.08. Quanex Building Products had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 2.59%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Quanex Building Products will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Quanex Building Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Quanex Building Products's payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Institutional Trading of Quanex Building Products

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Quanex Building Products by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,203 shares of the construction company's stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Quanex Building Products by 37.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,040,987 shares of the construction company's stock worth $28,894,000 after acquiring an additional 286,128 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc increased its stake in Quanex Building Products by 720.3% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 19,360 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 17,000 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in Quanex Building Products by 391.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 83,794 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,325,000 after purchasing an additional 66,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its position in Quanex Building Products by 69.4% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 1,477 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares in 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.