abrdn plc Lowers Stake in ChampionX Co. (NASDAQ:CHX)

abrdn plc reduced its holdings in shares of ChampionX Co. (NASDAQ:CHX) by 21.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 773,818 shares of the company’s stock after selling 208,581 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in ChampionX were worth $22,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in ChampionX by 19.4% in the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in ChampionX in the fourth quarter worth about $114,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in ChampionX by 16.9% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp raised its holdings in ChampionX by 240.5% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 4,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $161,000 after buying an additional 3,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudent Man Advisors LLC purchased a new position in ChampionX in the third quarter worth about $201,000. 98.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at ChampionX

In related news, insider William Jr. O’dell sold 27,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $978,408.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,078,928. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of ChampionX from $39.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of ChampionX from $32.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of ChampionX from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.33.

ChampionX Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CHX opened at $35.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.15. ChampionX Co. has a 1-year low of $24.98 and a 1-year high of $39.95. The company has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 2.44. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.13.

ChampionX (NASDAQ:CHX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $943.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $947.33 million. ChampionX had a net margin of 8.36% and a return on equity of 20.14%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that ChampionX Co. will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ChampionX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a dividend of $0.095 per share. This is a boost from ChampionX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. This represents a $0.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. ChampionX’s payout ratio is 24.20%.

ChampionX Company Profile

ChampionX Corporation provides chemistry solutions, artificial lift systems, and engineered equipment and technologies to oil and gas companies worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Production Chemical Technologies, Production & Automation Technologies, Drilling Technologies, and Reservoir Chemical Technologies.