NL Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NL) Short Interest Down 16.9% in November

NL Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NL) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 82,500 shares, a decrease of 16.9% from the October 31st total of 99,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 27,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

NL Industries Stock Performance

NYSE:NL opened at $7.95 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $388.34 million, a P/E ratio of 6.58 and a beta of 0.51. NL Industries has a fifty-two week low of $4.46 and a fifty-two week high of $8.93.

NL Industries Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. NL Industries’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.67%.

Institutional Trading of NL Industries

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in NL Industries by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,964,169 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,844,000 after buying an additional 23,574 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in NL Industries by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 356,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,613,000 after purchasing an additional 4,412 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in NL Industries by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 185,598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 3,014 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in NL Industries by 5.4% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 155,550 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 7,906 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in NL Industries by 59.9% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 59,541 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 22,293 shares during the period. 10.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

NL Industries Company Profile

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.