NL Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NL) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest jumped 51.1% in March to 134,662 shares (about 0.3% of shares outstanding), with a days-to-cover ratio of 2.1, indicating increased bearish activity.
• NL reported a steep quarterly earnings miss — EPS of ($0.63) vs. $0.18 expected, revenue $37.7M, and negative return on equity and net margin.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.10 (6.9% yield annualized), but the payout comes amid negative earnings and a MarketBeat consensus rating of “Sell.”

NL Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NL - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 134,662 shares, an increase of 51.1% from the February 26th total of 89,133 shares. Approximately 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 64,324 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NL Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NL. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NL Industries by 15.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 27,285 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $216,000 after buying an additional 3,667 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in NL Industries by 3.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 168,532 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,331,000 after buying an additional 6,032 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in NL Industries during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in NL Industries by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 202,513 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,296,000 after acquiring an additional 9,952 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in NL Industries in the 2nd quarter valued at $158,000. 10.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NL Industries Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NL Industries stock traded down $0.17 on Friday, hitting $5.78. The stock had a trading volume of 35,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,174. NL Industries has a twelve month low of $5.04 and a twelve month high of $9.27. The business's 50 day moving average is $6.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.90. The stock has a market cap of $282.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.51 and a beta of 0.24.

NL Industries (NYSE:NL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 9th. The basic materials company reported ($0.63) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.81). The firm had revenue of $37.70 million for the quarter. NL Industries had a negative return on equity of 9.43% and a negative net margin of 23.88%.

NL Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This is a boost from NL Industries's previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.9%. NL Industries's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -51.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on NL. Weiss Ratings cut NL Industries from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded NL Industries to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Sell rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Sell".

NL Industries Company Profile

NL Industries, Inc is a U.S.-based industrial minerals company whose primary focus is the mining, upgrading and marketing of titanium feedstocks. The company's products include synthetic rutile and chloride slag, which serve as key raw materials for producers of titanium dioxide pigment. These pigments are widely used as whitening and opacifying agents in coatings, plastics, paper and specialty applications.

NL Industries serves a global customer base, supplying feedstocks under long-term agreements and through spot transactions.

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