Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Separately, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of Quanex Building Products in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th.

Quanex Building Products Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NX traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.20. The stock had a trading volume of 225,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 351,488. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.42 and a 200-day moving average of $29.18. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.92, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Quanex Building Products has a fifty-two week low of $24.85 and a fifty-two week high of $39.31.

Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 5th. The construction company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.03. Quanex Building Products had a net margin of 6.88% and a return on equity of 14.68%. The business had revenue of $280.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Quanex Building Products will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Quanex Building Products Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Quanex Building Products's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Quanex Building Products by 14.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,440 shares of the construction company's stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,171 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC purchased a new position in shares of Quanex Building Products in the 2nd quarter valued at about $270,000. Summit Global Investments lifted its stake in shares of Quanex Building Products by 17.5% in the second quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 26,567 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 3,953 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Quanex Building Products during the second quarter worth about $6,263,000. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its position in Quanex Building Products by 1.7% during the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 28,452 shares of the construction company's stock worth $787,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the period. 97.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.