Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on BCPC. HC Wainwright set a $180.00 target price on shares of Balchem and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Sidoti upgraded shares of Balchem to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Balchem Stock Performance

Shares of BCPC stock opened at $170.45 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $161.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 43.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.93. Balchem has a 52-week low of $145.70 and a 52-week high of $186.03.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by ($0.03). Balchem had a net margin of 13.47% and a return on equity of 11.37%. The company had revenue of $250.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Balchem will post 4.64 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Balchem

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Balchem by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,961,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $645,703,000 after purchasing an additional 42,693 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Balchem by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 938,504 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $153,000,000 after buying an additional 9,600 shares in the last quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC grew its position in Balchem by 1.4% during the first quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC now owns 830,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $137,915,000 after buying an additional 11,067 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Balchem by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 576,994 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $94,047,000 after buying an additional 79,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Balchem by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 509,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $83,044,000 after buying an additional 50,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.