StockNews.com Downgrades Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning.

Balchem Stock Performance

Balchem stock opened at $139.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.57, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $152.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.94. Balchem has a 52 week low of $110.74 and a 52 week high of $159.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $228.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $234.66 million. Balchem had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 11.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Balchem will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Balchem

In related news, CAO William A. Backus sold 9,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.37, for a total value of $1,435,476.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,914 shares in the company, valued at $2,019,362.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Balchem news, SVP Michael Robert Sestrick sold 11,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.21, for a total transaction of $1,700,631.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,032,022.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William A. Backus sold 9,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.37, for a total value of $1,435,476.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,019,362.18. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 76,630 shares of company stock worth $11,843,249. 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Balchem

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Balchem by 3.9% during the first quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,125,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $174,378,000 after acquiring an additional 42,172 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Balchem in the first quarter worth about $69,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Balchem in the first quarter worth about $19,771,000. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Balchem in the first quarter worth about $465,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Balchem by 24.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 49,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,658,000 after buying an additional 9,725 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.91% of the company’s stock.

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.