Cardinal Capital Management Acquires 614 Shares of Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

Cardinal Capital Management increased its stake in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 24,771 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management’s holdings in Balchem were worth $4,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Balchem by 63.7% during the fourth quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 35,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 13,642 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Balchem by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 458,986 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $80,782,000 after buying an additional 7,721 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Balchem by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 11,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,093,000 after acquiring an additional 2,467 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Balchem by 3.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 928,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $163,514,000 after acquiring an additional 27,979 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Balchem during the fourth quarter worth about $503,000. 87.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Balchem Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BCPC opened at $164.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.31, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $163.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $169.45. Balchem Co. has a 52-week low of $137.69 and a 52-week high of $186.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Balchem Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a dividend of $0.87 per share. This is a boost from Balchem’s previous annual dividend of $0.79. This represents a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. Balchem’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BCPC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Balchem from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of Balchem from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th.

Balchem Profile

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.