Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Stock Position in Quanex Building Products Co. (NYSE:NX)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Quanex Building Products Co. (NYSE:NX) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,203 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,150 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Quanex Building Products were worth $562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NX. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Quanex Building Products by 65.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 994 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 393 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Quanex Building Products by 150.8% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,126 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Quanex Building Products during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Quanex Building Products by 69.4% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 1,477 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Quanex Building Products by 900.0% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.48% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NX shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Quanex Building Products from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 22nd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Quanex Building Products in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th.

Insider Activity at Quanex Building Products

In other news, CEO George Laverne Wilson bought 4,328 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $23.03 per share, with a total value of $99,673.84. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 287,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,624,441.32. The trade was a 1.53 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.15% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Quanex Building Products Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NX opened at $24.06 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.58. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.24. Quanex Building Products Co. has a 12 month low of $22.92 and a 12 month high of $39.31.

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

Quanex Building Products Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Quanex Building Products’s payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Quanex Building Products 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.