AXQ Capital LP Makes New Investment in NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU)

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of NewMarket Co. (NYSE:NEU) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 557 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in NewMarket by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,118 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,647,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of NewMarket by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 1,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew 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 buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of NewMarket by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 735 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of NewMarket by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,398 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $739,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 61.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

NewMarket Price Performance

NEU stock opened at $529.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.75. NewMarket Co. has a 1 year low of $480.00 and a 1 year high of $638.21. The firm has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $527.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $532.95.

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

NewMarket Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $2.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. This is an increase from NewMarket’s previous quarterly dividend of $2.50. NewMarket’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.82%.

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.