Aristides Capital LLC Purchases 150 Shares of NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU)

Aristides Capital LLC raised its position in NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU) by 38.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 544 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Aristides Capital LLC’s holdings in NewMarket were worth $287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of NewMarket by 5.0% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,186 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after buying an additional 294 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in NewMarket by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 675 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of NewMarket by 115.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,415 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $781,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NewMarket by 7.7% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,390 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of NewMarket by 3.0% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,675 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 61.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

NewMarket Stock Performance

Shares of NEU stock opened at $544.42 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.75 and a quick ratio of 1.40. NewMarket Co. has a one year low of $480.00 and a one year high of $624.91. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $538.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $532.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 11.29 and a beta of 0.41.

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

NewMarket Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $2.75 per share. This is a positive change from NewMarket’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. NewMarket’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.82%.

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.