NL Industries (NYSE:NL) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of NL Industries (NYSE:NL) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning. The brokerage issued a strong-buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

NL Industries Price Performance

NL opened at $8.10 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.34. NL Industries has a 1-year low of $4.46 and a 1-year high of $8.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $395.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -202.45 and a beta of 0.68.

NL Industries (NYSE:NL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $43.20 million for the quarter. NL Industries had a negative net margin of 1.43% and a negative return on equity of 0.59%.

NL Industries Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This is an increase from NL Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 8th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. NL Industries’s payout ratio is -799.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NL Industries

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NL. Barclays PLC lifted its position in NL Industries by 88.2% in the first quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 4,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,981 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC lifted its position in NL Industries by 63.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 3,660 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,424 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in NL Industries by 128.9% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 2,904 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in NL Industries by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,881 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in NL Industries by 57.8% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 12,895 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 4,724 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 10.67% of the company’s stock.

About NL Industries

NL Industries, Inc, through its subsidiary, CompX International Inc, operates in the component products industry in Europe, North America, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells mechanical and electronic cabinet locks and other locking mechanisms, including disc tumbler locks; pin tumbler locking mechanisms under KeSet, System 64, TuBar, and Turbine brands; and electronic locks under CompX eLock and StealthLock brands for use in various applications, such as mailboxes, ignition systems, file cabinets, desk drawers, tool storage cabinets, high security medical cabinetry, integrated inventory and access control secured narcotics boxes, electronic circuit panels, storage compartments, gas station security, vending and cash containment machines.