Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Sells 3,118 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 65.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,629 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,118 shares during the period. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total value of $3,011,721.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,078,990.68. This represents a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho upped their price target on Albemarle from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Albemarle from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Albemarle from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Albemarle from $230.00 to $244.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.42.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $174.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.25, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $183.04 and its 200 day moving average is $162.50. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $53.70 and a twelve month high of $221.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -47.51%.

About Albemarle

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.