Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Invests $3.30 Million in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 18,358 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,296,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Evexia Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 2,088 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 782 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $244.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Albemarle from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price target on Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Argus raised their price objective on Albemarle from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total transaction of $3,011,721.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 87,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,078,990.68. The trade was a 15.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE ALB traded down $6.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $127.79. The stock had a trading volume of 558,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,522,392. Albemarle Corporation has a 52-week low of $64.95 and a 52-week 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. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.48. The company has a market cap of $15.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.55 and a beta of 1.34.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 5.00% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -47.51%.

Albemarle 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.