NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU) Short Interest Down 12.7% in June

NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 81,800 shares, a decline of 12.7% from the May 31st total of 93,700 shares. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 38,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded NewMarket from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NewMarket

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NEU. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of NewMarket by 0.7% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 2,739 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of NewMarket by 64.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 51 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of NewMarket by 35.6% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 80 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of NewMarket by 29.6% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 175 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of NewMarket by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 8,750 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,776,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.09% of the company’s stock.

NewMarket Stock Performance

NewMarket stock traded up $2.94 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $523.50. 27,995 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 41,862. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $539.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $574.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.52 and a beta of 0.47. NewMarket has a 1 year low of $402.01 and a 1 year high of $650.00.

NewMarket (NYSE:NEU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The specialty chemicals company reported $11.23 EPS for the quarter. NewMarket had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 14.82%. The firm had revenue of $696.74 million for the quarter.

NewMarket Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $2.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $10.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. NewMarket’s payout ratio is 24.06%.

NewMarket Company Profile

NewMarket Corporation, through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the manufacture and sale of petroleum additives. The company offers lubricant additives for use in various vehicle and industrial applications, including engine oils, transmission fluids, off-road powertrain and hydraulic systems, gear oils, hydraulic oils, turbine oils, and other applications where metal-to-metal moving parts are utilized; engine oil additives designed for passenger cars, motorcycles, on and off-road heavy duty commercial equipment, locomotives, and engines in ocean-going vessels; driveline additives designed for products, such as transmission fluids, axle fluids, and off-road powertrain fluids; and industrial additives designed for products for industrial applications consisting of hydraulic fluids, grease, industrial gear fluids, and industrial specialty applications, such as turbine oils.