NL Industries (NYSE:NL) Shares Pass Below Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

NL Industries, Inc. (NYSE:NL)’s share price crossed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $7.49 and traded as low as $6.78. NL Industries shares last traded at $6.93, with a volume of 11,889 shares.

NL Industries Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $7.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.50. The firm has a market cap of $356.83 million, a PE ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.56.

NL Industries (NYSE:NL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.13. NL Industries had a net margin of 38.69% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The firm had revenue of $38.40 million during the quarter.

NL Industries Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. This is a positive change from NL Industries’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. NL Industries’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NL Industries

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NL. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of NL Industries by 5.4% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 155,550 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 7,906 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in NL Industries in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in NL Industries by 42.3% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 52,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 15,627 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in NL Industries by 1,454.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 22,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $167,000 after buying an additional 21,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in NL Industries by 311.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 11,934 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 9,033 shares during the last quarter. 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.