Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) Trading Up 4.9% After Insider Buying Activity

Quanex Building Products Co. (NYSE:NX)’s stock price was up 4.9% on Friday following insider buying activity. The stock traded as high as $24.53 and last traded at $24.26. Approximately 98,020 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 368,616 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.13.

Specifically, CEO George Laverne Wilson purchased 4,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.03 per share, for a total transaction of $99,673.84. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 287,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,624,441.32. This trade represents a 1.53 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on NX. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Quanex Building Products in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. StockNews.com cut Quanex Building Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th.

Quanex Building Products Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 22.41, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.36 and a 200 day moving average of $28.80.

Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 12th. The construction company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.08. Quanex Building Products had a return on equity of 14.06% and a net margin of 2.59%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Quanex Building Products Co. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Quanex Building Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Quanex Building Products’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Institutional Trading of Quanex Building Products

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quanex Building Products by 38.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 115,210 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,197,000 after acquiring an additional 32,158 shares during the period. Susquehanna International Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Quanex Building Products in the second quarter worth about $611,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Quanex Building Products by 292.2% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 82,469 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,289,000 after acquiring an additional 61,444 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in shares of Quanex Building Products by 5.6% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 365,517 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $10,143,000 after acquiring an additional 19,361 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Quanex Building Products by 26.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 669,270 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $18,572,000 after acquiring an additional 139,208 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.