Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 19,164 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 32% from the previous session’s volume of 28,212 shares.The stock last traded at $43.62 and had previously closed at $44.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut Oil-Dri Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday.

Oil-Dri Co. of America Trading Up 0.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $641.30 million, a P/E ratio of 14.20 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter. Oil-Dri Co. of America had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 21.84%.

Oil-Dri Co. of America Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Oil-Dri Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 20.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Amy Ryan sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.78, for a total value of $87,738.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,942. This represents a 35.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Christopher B. Lamson sold 3,154 shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $134,833.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 70,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,026,529. The trade was a 4.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in Oil-Dri Co. of America by 81.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 445 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America by 973.1% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,157 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 1,956 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, Mariner LLC bought a new position in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $222,000. 49.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Oil-Dri Co. of America

Oil-Dri Corporation of America is a manufacturer and supplier of specialty sorbent products for the pet care, animal health and nutrition, fluids purification, agricultural ingredients, sports field, industrial and automotive markets. It operates through the Business to Business Products Group and Retail and Wholesale Products Group segments.