Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $18.89 Million Holdings in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC)

Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 115,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,441 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned about 0.36% of Balchem worth $18,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning grew its position in Balchem by 33.4% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 9,777 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,721,000 after buying an additional 2,449 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Balchem in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in shares of Balchem during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $304,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Balchem by 642.5% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Balchem by 7.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 54,089 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,520,000 after purchasing an additional 3,741 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on BCPC. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Balchem from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Balchem from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th.

Balchem Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of BCPC opened at $164.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.45. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a PE ratio of 44.31, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.69. Balchem Co. has a 1 year low of $137.69 and a 1 year high of $186.03.

Balchem Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $0.87 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. This is a boost from Balchem’s previous annual dividend of $0.79. This represents a dividend yield of 0.4%. Balchem’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.39%.

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.