Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Position Trimmed by Optimum Investment Advisors

Optimum Investment Advisors lessened its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 50.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Albemarle were worth $26,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 128.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,022,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,979,885 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $377,341,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Albemarle by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $749,235,000 after buying an additional 1,667,164 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Albemarle by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $838,025,000 after buying an additional 1,396,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position in Albemarle by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,476,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $502,310,000 after buying an additional 1,245,719 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $165.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $94.66 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $92.29 and a 1 year high of $247.44. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.13 billion, a PE ratio of 34.42, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.61.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 2.49 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 58.18%.

Albemarle Company Profile

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.