State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Reduces Stock Position in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its position in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,824 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 119 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Balchem were worth $1,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Balchem in the third quarter worth about $27,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Balchem in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Balchem in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Balchem by 642.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 726 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Balchem by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $181,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on BCPC. StockNews.com raised shares of Balchem from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Balchem in a report on Monday.

Balchem Trading Up 1.1 %

Balchem stock opened at $165.57 on Tuesday. Balchem Co. has a 12 month low of $137.69 and a 12 month high of $186.03. The company has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.11 by ($0.08). Balchem had a net margin of 12.90% and a return on equity of 10.99%. The firm had revenue of $240.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.96 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Balchem Co. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Balchem Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This is a positive change from Balchem’s previous annual dividend of $0.79. This represents a yield of 0.4%. Balchem’s payout ratio is currently 22.14%.

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.