Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) Upgraded to Buy by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning.

Separately, HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Balchem from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st.

Balchem Stock Down 0.4 %

BCPC stock opened at $170.79 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Balchem has a 52 week low of $113.90 and a 52 week high of $186.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.54 billion, a PE ratio of 48.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $171.71 and a 200 day moving average of $162.55.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The basic materials company reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $234.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $241.26 million. Balchem had a net margin of 12.52% and a return on equity of 10.94%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Balchem will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Balchem

In other news, SVP Gunsteren Job Leonard Van sold 7,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.05, for a total value of $1,395,387.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,540 shares in the company, valued at $1,537,627. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.25% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Balchem

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BCPC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Balchem by 3.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,935,935 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $609,873,000 after acquiring an additional 144,423 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Balchem by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,175,569 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $206,900,000 after purchasing an additional 20,360 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Balchem by 0.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 697,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $107,372,000 after buying an additional 5,977 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its position in Balchem by 12.4% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 301,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,053,000 after buying an additional 33,373 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Balchem by 1.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 277,475 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $42,717,000 after buying an additional 3,279 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.91% of the company’s stock.

Balchem Company 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.