M&T Bank Corp Grows Stock Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 25.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 52,823 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 10,576 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $7,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $138,723,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $119,710,000 after buying an additional 52,698 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,464,000 after buying an additional 22,856 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,080,000 after buying an additional 115,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 60.9% during the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 784,083 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,138,000 after buying an additional 296,861 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB stock opened at $194.99 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $22.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.36. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $53.70 and a 12-month high of $215.71. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $152.97.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.13). 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 10.74% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. The business’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.09) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post 8.72 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -28.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on Albemarle from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup increased their target price on Albemarle from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group increased their target price on Albemarle from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research cut Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Albemarle from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $183.00.

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.