Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) Short Interest Down 5.7% in April

Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) saw a significant decrease in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 337,300 shares, a decrease of 5.7% from the March 31st total of 357,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 99,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Balchem from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th.

Insider Activity at Balchem

In related news, CAO William A. Backus sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.73, for a total value of $2,320,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,998,183.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Balchem news, CAO William A. Backus sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.73, for a total transaction of $2,320,950.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,183.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO William A. Backus sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.19, for a total transaction of $1,086,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,914 shares in the company, valued at $917,793.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,630 shares of company stock valued at $11,843,249 over the last 90 days. 1.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Balchem

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BCPC. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Balchem by 123.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Balchem during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Balchem during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Balchem during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Balchem in the 1st quarter valued at $69,000. 87.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Balchem Stock Performance

BCPC traded up $1.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $142.45. 7,493 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 103,194. Balchem has a 1 year low of $110.74 and a 1 year high of $159.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.35.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 16th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.02. Balchem had a net margin of 11.77% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company had revenue of $228.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $234.66 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Balchem’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Balchem will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.