Reviewing Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) and Carlisle Companies (NYSE:CSL)

Quanex Building Products (NYSE:NX) and Carlisle Companies (NYSE:CSL) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Quanex Building Products and Carlisle Companies’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Quanex Building Products	-13.85%	11.11%	4.07%
Carlisle Companies	14.21%	47.58%	13.46%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

97.5% of Quanex Building Products shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.5% of Carlisle Companies shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Quanex Building Products shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Carlisle Companies shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Quanex Building Products pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Carlisle Companies pays an annual dividend of $5.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Quanex Building Products pays out -5.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Carlisle Companies pays out 28.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Carlisle Companies has raised its dividend for 48 consecutive years. Quanex Building Products is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Quanex Building Products and Carlisle Companies”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Quanex Building Products	$1.86 billion	0.48	-$250.81 million	($5.63)	-3.45
Carlisle Companies	$5.10 billion	2.77	$740.70 million	$17.43	20.43

Carlisle Companies has higher revenue and earnings than Quanex Building Products. Quanex Building Products is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Carlisle Companies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Quanex Building Products and Carlisle Companies, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Quanex Building Products	1	1	1	0	2.00
Carlisle Companies	0	6	5	0	2.45

Quanex Building Products currently has a consensus price target of $28.00, suggesting a potential upside of 43.96%. Carlisle Companies has a consensus price target of $402.43, suggesting a potential upside of 13.00%. Given Quanex Building Products’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Quanex Building Products is more favorable than Carlisle Companies.

Volatility & Risk

Quanex Building Products has a beta of 0.92, indicating that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Carlisle Companies has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Carlisle Companies beats Quanex Building Products on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Quanex Building Products

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. It offers flexible insulating glass spacers, extruded vinyl profiles, window and door screens, and precision-formed metal and wood products, as well as cabinet doors and other components for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the kitchen and bathroom cabinet industry. In addition, the company provides various non-fenestration components and products, including solar panel sealants, trim moldings, vinyl decking, fencing, water retention barriers, and conservatory roof components. It sells its products to OEMs in the building products industry through sales representatives, direct sales force, distributors, and independent sales agents. Quanex Building Products Corporation was founded in 1927 and is based in Houston, Texas.

About Carlisle Companies

Carlisle Companies Incorporated operates as a manufacturer and supplier of building envelope products and solutions in the United States, Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Carlisle Construction Materials and Carlisle Weatherproofing Technologies. The company produces single-ply roofing products, and warranted roof systems and accessories, including ethylene propylene diene monomer, thermoplastic polyolefin and polyvinyl chloride membrane, polyiso insulation, and engineered metal roofing and wall panel systems for commercial and residential buildings. It also offers building envelope solutions, including high-performance waterproofing and moisture protection products, protective roofing underlayments, fully integrated liquid and sheet applied air/vapor barriers, sealants/primers and flashing systems, roof coatings and mastics, spray polyurethane foam and coating systems, block-molded expanded polystyrene insulation, and engineered products for HVAC applications. It sells its products under the Carlisle SynTec, Versico, WeatherBond, Hunter Panels, Resitrix, and Hertalan brands. Carlisle Companies Incorporated was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.