Raymond James & Associates Grows Stake in NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU)

Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU) by 35.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,165 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in NewMarket were worth $636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. purchased a new position in NewMarket in the third quarter worth $27,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. purchased a new position in NewMarket in the third quarter worth $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. purchased a new position in NewMarket in the third quarter worth $47,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its position in NewMarket by 153.3% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 309 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in NewMarket by 17.2% in the third quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 436 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $198,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 61.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of NewMarket from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 4th.

NewMarket Stock Performance

NewMarket stock opened at $581.79 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.58 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $615.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $560.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. NewMarket Co. has a twelve month low of $362.16 and a twelve month high of $650.00.

NewMarket (NYSE:NEU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $8.38 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $643.35 million during the quarter. NewMarket had a net margin of 14.41% and a return on equity of 41.33%.

NewMarket Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $2.50 per share. This represents a $10.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. This is an increase from NewMarket’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.25. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. NewMarket’s dividend payout ratio is 24.73%.

About NewMarket

NewMarket Corporation, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the manufacture and sale of petroleum additives. The company offers lubricant additives for use in various vehicle and industrial applications, including engine oils, transmission fluids, off-road powertrain and hydraulic systems, gear oils, hydraulic oils, turbine oils, and other applications where metal-to-metal moving parts are utilized; engine oil additives designed for passenger cars, motorcycles, on and off-road heavy duty commercial equipment, locomotives, and engines in ocean-going vessels; driveline additives designed for products, such as transmission fluids, axle fluids, and off-road powertrain fluids; and industrial additives designed for products for industrial applications consisting of hydraulic fluids, grease, industrial gear fluids, and industrial specialty applications, such as turbine oils.