Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Invests $131,000 in Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,852 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $131,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Oil-Dri Co. of America by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after acquiring an additional 4,050 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Oil-Dri Co. of America by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 6,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in Oil-Dri Co. of America by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 166,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $14,548,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Oil-Dri Co. of America by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 146,239 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,816,000 after acquiring an additional 15,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Oil-Dri Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at $235,000. 49.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday.

Oil-Dri Co. of America Trading Down 2.2%

ODC opened at $56.29 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $821.48 million, a PE ratio of 18.19 and a beta of 0.62. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $46.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.61. Oil-Dri Co. of America has a 12-month low of $29.47 and a 12-month high of $60.32.

Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter. Oil-Dri Co. of America had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 21.84%. The firm had revenue of $115.50 million during the quarter.

Oil-Dri Co. of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a positive change from Oil-Dri Co. of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. Oil-Dri Co. of America’s payout ratio is presently 21.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oil-Dri Co. of America

In other news, Director Ellen-Blair Chube sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.51, for a total transaction of $148,785.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,820 shares in the company, valued at approximately $502,468.20. This represents a 22.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 11.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Oil-Dri Co. of America

Oil-Dri Corporation of America is a manufacturer and supplier of specialty sorbent products for the pet care, animal health and nutrition, fluids purification, agricultural ingredients, sports field, industrial and automotive markets. It operates through the Business to Business Products Group and Retail and Wholesale Products Group segments.