American Century Companies Inc. Increases Holdings in Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America (NYSE:ODC - Free Report) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 146,239 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,041 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 1.00% of Oil-Dri Co. of America worth $12,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Oil-Dri Co. of America by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,348,000 after purchasing an additional 4,050 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 6,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its position in shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 166,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $14,548,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Oil-Dri Co. of America by 12.6% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Oil-Dri Co. of America by 41.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 9,743 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $673,000 after buying an additional 2,859 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 49.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oil-Dri Co. of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday.

Oil-Dri Co. of America Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:ODC traded down $0.71 on Friday, hitting $43.48. The stock had a trading volume of 51,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,828. Oil-Dri Co. of America has a 1 year low of $29.47 and a 1 year high of $49.72. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $44.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.70. 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 stock has a market cap of $634.53 million, a P/E ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Oil-Dri Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Oil-Dri Co. of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.81%.

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 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $162,942. This represents a 35.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Christopher B. Lamson sold 3,154 shares of the company's 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 directly owns 70,796 shares in the company, valued at $3,026,529. This represents a 4.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 11.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Oil-Dri Co. of America Profile

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.