International Assets Investment Management LLC Sells 385 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

International Assets Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 16.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,022 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 385 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 2.2% during the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 10,207 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 49.1% in the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 4,256 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 1,402 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 10,500 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 2,342 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 117,977 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $15,542,000 after acquiring an additional 3,295 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on ALB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $157.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a report on Friday, May 24th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.78.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB opened at $92.77 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $92.29 and a 12 month high of $247.44. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.14. The stock has a market cap of $10.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.61.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 2.49 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently 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.