Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC Takes Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,728 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $952,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ALB. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. BOKF NA lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5,771.4% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the period. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 536.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of several research reports. Argus boosted their price target on Albemarle from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Bank of America upped 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Albemarle from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.54.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE ALB opened at $160.13 on Friday. Albemarle Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.90 and a 1-year high of $221.00. The company has a market capitalization of $18.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.96, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $180.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $1.71. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is -47.51%.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other Albemarle 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 transaction of $3,011,721.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at $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 can be accessed through this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.