Albemarle Corporation $ALB Shares Purchased by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 1,455.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,982 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,862 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $5,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,630,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $230,603,000 after buying an additional 207,770 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,464,000 after buying an additional 22,856 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 453,881 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $165,271,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at $130,415,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB opened at $117.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.45 and a beta of 1.34. Albemarle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $64.95 and a fifty-two week high of $221.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $142.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.79. 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 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. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm posted ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -47.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Albemarle from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.22.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at $16,078,990.68. The trade was a 15.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Albemarle Company 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.