Ethos Financial Group LLC Trims Stake in NewMarket Corporation $NEU

Ethos Financial Group LLC lessened its position in NewMarket Corporation (NYSE:NEU) by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 703 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 192 shares during the quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings in NewMarket were worth $487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NEU. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of NewMarket during the first quarter valued at approximately $257,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of NewMarket in the second quarter worth approximately $331,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in shares of NewMarket by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 3,993 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,262,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in NewMarket by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,585 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $21,857,000 after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new position in NewMarket during the 1st quarter valued at $293,000. 61.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b+)” rating on shares of NewMarket in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of NewMarket from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

NewMarket Price Performance

NEU opened at $775.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. NewMarket Corporation has a 12-month low of $480.00 and a 12-month high of $875.97. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $802.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $728.13.

NewMarket (NYSE:NEU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $10.67 earnings per share for the quarter. NewMarket had a return on equity of 32.25% and a net margin of 17.28%.The firm had revenue of $690.31 million during the quarter.

NewMarket Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This is a boost from NewMarket’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. NewMarket’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.35%.

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.