Royce & Associates LP Grows Position in Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC)

Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 166,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Oil-Dri Co. of America were worth $14,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Oil-Dri Co. of America by 81.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 445 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America by 12.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $166,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America during the third quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Oil-Dri Co. of America by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,253 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Oil-Dri Co. of America by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 5,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Oil-Dri Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

Oil-Dri Co. of America Stock Up 0.9 %

ODC opened at $48.69 on Tuesday. Oil-Dri Co. of America has a 12 month low of $29.47 and a 12 month high of $49.72. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $710.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.73 and a beta of 0.44.

Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $116.91 million during the quarter. Oil-Dri Co. of America had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 21.84%.

Oil-Dri Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Oil-Dri Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 19.81%.

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

In other Oil-Dri Co. of America news, Director Amy Ryan sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.78, for a total value of $87,738.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $162,942. This trade represents a 35.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher B. Lamson sold 3,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $134,833.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 70,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,026,529. The trade was a 4.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.66% of the stock is owned by company 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.