Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

Quanex Building Products Corporation (NYSE:NX)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $18.76, but opened at $20.63. Quanex Building Products shares last traded at $21.3550, with a volume of 52,895 shares.

The construction company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.13. Quanex Building Products had a negative net margin of 13.85% and a positive return on equity of 11.11%. The firm had revenue of $501.85 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $497.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($6.04) EPS.

Quanex Building Products Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Quanex Building Products’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -5.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Quanex Building Products from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Quanex Building Products in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Quanex Building Products in a report on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Corient Private Wealth LP lifted its holdings in shares of Quanex Building Products by 18.4% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 38,077 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $709,000 after buying an additional 5,922 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Quanex Building Products by 2,264.2% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 925,712 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $17,237,000 after acquiring an additional 886,557 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Quanex Building Products in the second quarter worth about $3,812,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Quanex Building Products in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Quanex Building Products during the 2nd quarter worth about $9,501,000. Institutional investors own 97.48% of the company’s stock.

Quanex Building Products Trading Up 13.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.28. The company has a market capitalization of $981.02 million, a P/E ratio of -3.79, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.74.

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.