Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 938 Shares of Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 938 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Balchem were worth $7,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BCPC. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Balchem in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of 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. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Balchem in the 4th quarter worth approximately $95,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Balchem by 230.8% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 645 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. 87.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BCPC shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Sidoti upgraded shares of Balchem to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Balchem in a report on Monday, February 24th.

Balchem Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BCPC opened at $170.60 on Wednesday. Balchem Co. has a twelve month low of $137.69 and a twelve month high of $186.03. The firm has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.41, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $162.56 and a 200 day moving average of $169.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

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