Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) Short Interest Up 12.8% in December

Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 492,400 shares, a growth of 12.8% from the November 30th total of 436,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 125,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Balchem

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BCPC. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Balchem by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,234,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $217,224,000 after buying an additional 12,006 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Balchem by 1.8% in the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,175,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $206,900,000 after acquiring an additional 20,360 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $163,514,000 after acquiring an additional 27,979 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Balchem by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 779,869 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $137,257,000 after purchasing an additional 12,750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Balchem by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 697,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $107,372,000 after purchasing an additional 5,977 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCPC has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Balchem from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on Balchem from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th.

Balchem Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BCPC traded down $1.18 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $162.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 45,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 111,840. The company has a 50-day moving average of $174.33 and a 200-day moving average of $170.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.76, a P/E/G ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 0.67. Balchem has a 12 month low of $135.84 and a 12 month high of $186.03.

Balchem Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th will be given a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 26th. This is an increase from Balchem’s previous annual dividend of $0.79. This represents a yield of 0.4%. Balchem’s payout ratio is 23.39%.

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.