Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

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

Balchem Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of BCPC opened at $139.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $152.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $140.04. Balchem has a 1-year low of $110.74 and a 1-year high of $159.52. The stock has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.71.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. Balchem had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The business had revenue of $228.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $234.66 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Balchem will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Balchem news, CAO William A. Backus sold 7,000 shares of Balchem stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.19, for a total value of $1,086,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $917,793.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Balchem news, CAO William A. Backus sold 7,000 shares of Balchem stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.19, for a total value of $1,086,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $917,793.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael Robert Sestrick sold 11,100 shares of Balchem stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 6,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,032,022.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 76,630 shares of company stock valued at $11,843,249. Company insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Balchem

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wendell David Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Balchem by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc. now owns 21,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,726,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Balchem by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,803,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Balchem by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $984,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Balchem by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 25,684 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Argent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Balchem during the 3rd quarter valued at about $227,000. 87.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.