Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Separately, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Balchem in a research report on Monday.

Balchem Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ BCPC opened at $172.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $5.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Balchem has a 12-month low of $137.69 and a 12-month high of $186.03.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $240.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.96 million. Balchem had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 11.37%. Equities research analysts expect that Balchem will post 4.64 EPS for the current year.

Balchem Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $0.87 dividend. This is a boost from Balchem’s previous annual dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.4%. Balchem’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Balchem

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake in Balchem by 944.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 497,495 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,559,000 after buying an additional 449,854 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Balchem in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,165,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Balchem in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $23,628,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Balchem by 120.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 156,562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,519,000 after acquiring an additional 85,692 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Balchem during the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,359,000. 87.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Balchem

Balchem Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets specialty performance ingredients and products for the nutritional, food, pharmaceutical, animal health, medical device sterilization, plant nutrition, and industrial markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Human Nutrition and Health, Animal Nutrition and Health, and Specialty Products.