Benchmark Reaffirms Buy Rating for Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX)

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $38.00 target price on the construction company's stock.

Quanex Building Products Trading Up 3.1 %

NYSE NX traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $34.75. 476,694 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 159,667. The business's 50 day moving average is $35.67 and its 200-day moving average is $32.14. Quanex Building Products has a 12-month low of $18.71 and a 12-month high of $39.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 2.27.

Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The construction company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $239.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $232.90 million. Quanex Building Products had a return on equity of 17.11% and a net margin of 7.84%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Quanex Building Products will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quanex Building Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Quanex Building Products's payout ratio is currently 12.17%.

Insider Activity at Quanex Building Products

In other Quanex Building Products news, SVP Paul Cornett sold 3,064 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.72, for a total transaction of $115,574.08. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 43,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,655,983.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.15% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NX. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Quanex Building Products by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 791,876 shares of the construction company's stock worth $24,208,000 after acquiring an additional 251,892 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Quanex Building Products by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 462,937 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $13,041,000 after purchasing an additional 74,297 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Quanex Building Products by 493.5% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 71,482 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $2,185,000 after purchasing an additional 59,438 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in Quanex Building Products during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,376,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Quanex Building Products by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,714,516 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $113,553,000 after purchasing an additional 30,198 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.