Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC) Sets New 1-Year High Following Dividend Announcement

Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $50.00 and last traded at $47.25, with a volume of 1037 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $45.59.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Oil-Dri Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 19.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th.

Oil-Dri Co. of America Stock Down 4.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $694.50 million, a PE ratio of 15.37 and a beta of 0.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.18.

Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Oil-Dri Co. of America had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 21.84%. The business had revenue of $116.91 million for the quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher B. Lamson sold 3,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $134,833.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 70,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,026,529. This represents a 4.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Amy Ryan sold 2,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.78, for a total transaction of $87,738.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,900 shares in the company, valued at $162,942. The trade was a 35.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oil-Dri Co. of America

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ODC. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America by 81.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 445 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America by 973.1% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,157 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,956 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America during the 3rd quarter valued at $216,000. Finally, Mariner LLC bought a new position in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at $222,000. Institutional investors own 49.01% of the company’s stock.

About Oil-Dri Co. of America

Oil-Dri Corporation of America is a manufacturer and supplier of specialty sorbent products for the pet care, animal health and nutrition, fluids purification, agricultural ingredients, sports field, industrial and automotive markets. It operates through the Business to Business Products Group and Retail and Wholesale Products Group segments.