American Century Companies Inc. Grows Stake in NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU) by 147.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 47,717 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,417 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in NewMarket were worth $25,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NEU. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in NewMarket by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,118 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,647,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in NewMarket by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $688,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $825,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NewMarket by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 735 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $388,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of NewMarket by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. 61.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

NewMarket Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE NEU opened at $552.19 on Friday. NewMarket Co. has a fifty-two week low of $480.00 and a fifty-two week high of $637.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.75. The company has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $532.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $532.96.

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

NewMarket Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $2.75 dividend. This represents a $11.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. This is a boost from NewMarket’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.50. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. NewMarket’s payout ratio is 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.