Cynosure Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU)

Cynosure Group LLC cut its stake in shares of NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 568 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 89 shares during the quarter. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in NewMarket were worth $300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NEU. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in NewMarket by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 731,312 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $386,389,000 after acquiring an additional 8,951 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of NewMarket by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 229,372 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $127,132,000 after purchasing an additional 8,979 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of NewMarket by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 198,065 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $104,648,000 after purchasing an additional 2,493 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NewMarket by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 124,387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $65,741,000 after buying an additional 1,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in NewMarket by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 91,875 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,542,000 after buying an additional 15,694 shares during the period. 61.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

NewMarket Price Performance

NYSE NEU opened at $565.76 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $536.70 and its 200 day moving average is $533.17. NewMarket Co. has a fifty-two week low of $480.00 and a fifty-two week high of $632.60. 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 capitalization of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74 and a beta of 0.41.

NewMarket (NYSE:NEU) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $2.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from NewMarket’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.50. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. NewMarket’s dividend payout ratio is 22.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.