Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) from a "hold" to a "strong sell", and the stock carries a consensus analyst rating of "Reduce" with a $28 consensus price target.
• Quanex slightly beat Q4 estimates (EPS -$0.01 vs. -$0.05; revenue $409.1M vs. $405.8M) but remains unprofitable with a negative net margin of 13% and a negative P/E (-3.89).
• The stock trades near $20.44 with a market capitalization of about $939M, 50-/200-day moving averages of $19.23/$16.79, and very high institutional ownership (97.48%).

Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on NX. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Quanex Building Products in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Quanex Building Products from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $28.00.

Quanex Building Products Stock Down 2.5%

NYSE:NX opened at $20.44 on Monday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $19.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.79. The company has a market capitalization of $938.81 million, a PE ratio of -3.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Quanex Building Products has a 1-year low of $11.04 and a 1-year high of $22.98.

Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The construction company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $409.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $405.75 million. Quanex Building Products had a negative net margin of 13.00% and a positive return on equity of 12.24%. On average, equities analysts predict that Quanex Building Products will post 1.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Quanex Building Products

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Quanex Building Products during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Quanex Building Products by 199.9% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,123 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,415 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Quanex Building Products during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Quanex Building Products during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its stake in Quanex Building Products by 132.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,754 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 2,136 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.48% of the company's stock.

About Quanex Building Products

Quanex Building Products Corporation engages in the design, manufacture and distribution of components for the window, door and building products industries in North America. The company operates through two primary segments: Window Products and Door & Building Products. Its Window Products segment supplies vinyl window profiles and related accessories, while its Door & Building Products segment offers engineered door skins, panels, siding products, specialty moldings and other exterior building components.

Within its Window Products segment, Quanex produces extrusion profiles used by window fabricators to assemble vinyl casement, double-hung, slider and picture windows.

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