NL Industries (NYSE:NL) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of NL Industries (NYSE:NL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday.

NL Industries Trading Down 4.2%

NL Industries stock opened at $8.05 on Friday. NL Industries has a 12-month low of $5.20 and a 12-month high of $9.42. The stock has a market cap of $393.23 million, a P/E ratio of 6.71 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $7.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.75.

NL Industries (NYSE:NL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.19). NL Industries had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 38.69%. The firm had revenue of $40.30 million for the quarter.

NL Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a boost from NL Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. NL Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kevin B. Kramer bought 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $6.59 per share, with a total value of $42,835.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 9,350 shares in the company, valued at $61,616.50. This represents a 228.07% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NL Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,622,000. Wealthstar Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NL Industries in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $670,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in shares of NL Industries in the first quarter valued at approximately $644,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of NL Industries by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,006,917 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $15,594,000 after purchasing an additional 21,876 shares during the period. Finally, Aristides Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of NL Industries by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 426,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,315,000 after purchasing an additional 21,313 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.