NewMarket (NYSE:NEU) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

NewMarket Corporation (NYSE:NEU) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 87,909 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 12% from the previous session’s volume of 78,214 shares.The stock last traded at $760.4940 and had previously closed at $756.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on NEU shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NewMarket in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen lowered NewMarket from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, NewMarket presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

NewMarket Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 2.68. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $780.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $746.86. The firm has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22 and a beta of 0.49.

NewMarket (NYSE:NEU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $10.67 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $690.31 million for the quarter. NewMarket had a return on equity of 28.53% and a net margin of 16.33%.

NewMarket Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $3.00 dividend. This represents a $12.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from NewMarket’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.75. NewMarket’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NEU. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in NewMarket by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 744,723 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $421,848,000 after purchasing an additional 13,411 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of NewMarket by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 268,432 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $222,318,000 after buying an additional 6,284 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of NewMarket by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 179,702 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $148,820,000 after buying an additional 2,049 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of NewMarket by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 156,613 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $108,212,000 after buying an additional 26,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of NewMarket by 196.7% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 137,943 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,246,000 after acquiring an additional 91,458 shares in the last quarter. 61.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.