NL Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NL) Short Interest Update

NL Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NL) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 89,200 shares, a decrease of 15.5% from the August 31st total of 105,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 38,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NL. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in NL Industries by 8.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 137,024 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after purchasing an additional 10,325 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. bought a new stake in NL Industries during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $130,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in NL Industries by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 356,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,613,000 after purchasing an additional 4,412 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in NL Industries during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $139,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in NL Industries by 74.5% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,929 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,677 shares during the period. 10.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Barclays upped their target price on NL Industries from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th.

NL Industries Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NL opened at $7.38 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $360.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.75 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.94. NL Industries has a 52-week low of $4.46 and a 52-week high of $8.93.

NL Industries (NYSE:NL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $35.90 million for the quarter. NL Industries had a return on equity of 5.68% and a net margin of 14.10%.

NL Industries Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a dividend yield of 9.4%. NL Industries’s payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

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.