Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 1,074,136 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lowered its position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 98.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,074,136 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,630,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $230,603,000 after acquiring an additional 207,770 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Albemarle by 1.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,464,000 after purchasing an additional 22,856 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 57.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $175,542,000 after purchasing an additional 453,881 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $165,271,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $130,415,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE ALB traded down $2.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $126.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,465,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,370,384. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.07. The stock has a market cap of $14.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.97 and a beta of 1.34. Albemarle Corporation has a 12 month low of $64.95 and a 12 month high of $221.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.94.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) EPS. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post 13.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -47.51%.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 87,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,078,990.68. This trade represents a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Albemarle from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. HSBC raised their price target on Albemarle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Vertical Research raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Albemarle from $253.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.58.

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.