Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Oil-Dri Co. of America Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of ODC stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Thursday, hitting $42.98. 18,821 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,816. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.16. Oil-Dri Co. of America has a twelve month low of $29.47 and a twelve month high of $46.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $627.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.63.

Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter. Oil-Dri Co. of America had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 21.84%.

Insider Activity at Oil-Dri Co. of America

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Oil-Dri Co. of America by 81.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 445 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Oil-Dri Co. of America by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Mariner LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $222,000. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. 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.