Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) Hits New 1-Year Low - Here's Why

Shares of Quanex Building Products Co. (NYSE:NX - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $22.75 and last traded at $22.92, with a volume of 19876 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.28.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on NX shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Quanex Building Products from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, December 22nd. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Quanex Building Products in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th.

Quanex Building Products Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.32.

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

Quanex Building Products Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Quanex Building Products's payout ratio is 28.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Quanex Building Products news, CEO George Laverne Wilson bought 4,328 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $23.03 per share, for a total transaction of $99,673.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 287,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,624,441.32. This represents a 1.53 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quanex Building Products

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Quanex Building Products by 30.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 318,044 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $8,826,000 after acquiring an additional 74,396 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Quanex Building Products by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 222,522 shares of the construction company's stock worth $6,175,000 after purchasing an additional 49,716 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Quanex Building Products by 37.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,040,987 shares of the construction company's stock worth $28,894,000 after buying an additional 286,128 shares during the period. Finally, Vestcor Inc raised its stake in Quanex Building Products by 720.3% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 19,360 shares of the construction company's stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 17,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.48% of the company's stock.

About Quanex Building Products

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.