Short Interest in Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) Declines By 5.7%

Balchem Co. (NASDAQ:BCPC) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of 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. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 99,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Balchem Trading Up 0.6 %

BCPC stock traded up $0.78 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $140.01. 58,318 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 103,075. The company has a current ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Balchem has a 52-week low of $110.74 and a 52-week high of $159.52. The company has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $151.85 and its 200-day moving average is $140.23.

Balchem (NASDAQ:BCPC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 16th. The basic materials company reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Balchem will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Balchem

In related news, CAO William A. Backus sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.19, for a total value of $1,086,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $917,793.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related 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 value of $2,320,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,998,183.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO William A. Backus sold 7,000 shares of the company’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 directly owns 5,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $917,793.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 76,630 shares of company stock worth $11,843,249. Insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Balchem

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Balchem by 18.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Balchem by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 19,539 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,922,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Balchem by 123.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 165 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Balchem by 2.1% in the third quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $597,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Balchem by 0.7% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,803,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 87.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.