Albemarle Corporation $ALB Shares Purchased by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 32.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 26,679 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,503 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the third quarter worth about $25,000. BOKF NA lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 5,771.4% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $210.00 on Tuesday. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $53.70 and a twelve month high of $221.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market capitalization of $24.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -61.58, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $180.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 5.00% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 8.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -47.51%.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,995,808.68. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $195.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Albemarle from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $191.83.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.