Private Advisory Group LLC Acquires Shares of 18,171 Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Private Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,171 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,570,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $138,723,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Albemarle by 3.7% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $119,710,000 after purchasing an additional 52,698 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 22,856 shares in the last quarter. PGGM Investments grew its holdings in Albemarle by 10.8% in the third quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,080,000 after purchasing an additional 115,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 60.9% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 784,083 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,138,000 after purchasing an additional 296,861 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ALB. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $156.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Albemarle from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $210.00 price target on Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.24.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $179.33 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market cap of $21.14 billion, a PE ratio of -31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.22. Albemarle Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $206.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 10.74%.The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.09) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is -28.17%.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 134,628 shares in the company, valued at $22,995,808.68. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.