NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU) Short Interest Update

NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 163,500 shares, a growth of 51.1% from the February 28th total of 108,200 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 47,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NEU. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in NewMarket by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,118 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,647,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of NewMarket by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $688,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of NewMarket by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 1,561 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $825,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of NewMarket by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 735 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of NewMarket by 166.7% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 48 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 61.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut NewMarket from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th.

NewMarket Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NEU traded up $14.91 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $567.08. 50,196 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 35,976. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $532.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $532.78. NewMarket has a 1-year low of $480.00 and a 1-year high of $637.40. The firm has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

NewMarket (NYSE:NEU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $11.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. NewMarket had a return on equity of 35.48% and a net margin of 16.59%.

NewMarket Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $2.75 dividend. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. This is a positive change from NewMarket’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. NewMarket’s dividend payout ratio is 22.82%.

About NewMarket

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.