Bank of Montreal Can Boosts Holdings in NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU)

Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 908 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 71 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in NewMarket were worth $480,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NewMarket in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of NewMarket in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of NewMarket by 55.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 118 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of NewMarket in the 4th quarter valued at $74,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in NewMarket by 481.5% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 157 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.09% of the company’s stock.

NewMarket Stock Down 0.8 %

NewMarket stock opened at $559.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $549.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $533.34. NewMarket Co. has a twelve month low of $480.00 and a twelve month high of $596.89.

NewMarket (NYSE:NEU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $11.56 earnings per share for the quarter. NewMarket had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 35.48%.

NewMarket Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $2.75 per share. This is a boost from NewMarket’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.50. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. NewMarket’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of NewMarket from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th.

NewMarket Company Profile

NewMarket Corporation, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the manufacture and sale of petroleum additives. The company offers lubricant additives for use in various vehicle and industrial applications, including engine oils, transmission fluids, off-road powertrain and hydraulic systems, gear oils, hydraulic oils, turbine oils, and other applications where metal-to-metal moving parts are utilized; engine oil additives designed for passenger cars, motorcycles, on and off-road heavy duty commercial equipment, locomotives, and engines in ocean-going vessels; driveline additives designed for products, such as transmission fluids, axle fluids, and off-road powertrain fluids; and industrial additives designed for products for industrial applications consisting of hydraulic fluids, grease, industrial gear fluids, and industrial specialty applications, such as turbine oils.