Short Interest in Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX) Rises By 37.8%

Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX) was the target of a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 2,440,072 shares, an increase of 37.8% from the February 26th total of 1,770,565 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 702,716 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 5.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on NX shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Quanex Building Products in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Benchmark dropped their target price on Quanex Building Products from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Quanex Building Products from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Quanex Building Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Quanex Building Products presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

Quanex Building Products Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NX stock opened at $17.43 on Tuesday. Quanex Building Products has a 52-week low of $11.04 and a 52-week high of $22.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.25. The company has a market capitalization of $800.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.31, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.91.

Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The construction company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.04. Quanex Building Products had a negative net margin of 13.00% and a positive return on equity of 12.24%. The firm had revenue of $409.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $405.75 million. Research analysts anticipate that Quanex Building Products will post 2.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quanex Building Products Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. Quanex Building Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -6.08%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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