Old West Investment Management LLC Purchases 8,727 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Old West Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 19.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,817 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 8,727 shares during the quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 3.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 184,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,282,000 after acquiring an additional 6,487 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. now owns 5,136 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Ping Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $526,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Mystic Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 25.7% in the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,136 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 13.1% during the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,896 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Up 3.9%

Albemarle stock opened at $114.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.31. The stock has a market cap of $13.49 billion, a PE ratio of -12.30 and a beta of 1.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $90.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.64. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $119.28.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.55) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -101.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Dbs Bank increased their target price on Albemarle from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Baird R W cut Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Albemarle from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Argus lifted their target price on Albemarle from $90.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.38.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.