Norway Savings Bank Has $451,000 Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Norway Savings Bank raised its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 30.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,420 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 805 shares during the quarter. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 78,729 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,387,000 after purchasing an additional 9,796 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 52,414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,912,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 383.1% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 19,064 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,242,000 after acquiring an additional 15,118 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in Albemarle by 1,035.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 76,012 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,922,000 after acquiring an additional 69,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 228.7% during the 3rd quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 4,447 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 3,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Vertical Research cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $157.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.78.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $95.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.84. The firm has a market cap of $11.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.61. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $92.29 and a 52 week high of $247.44. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $117.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.53.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $10.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, 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 value of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Albemarle 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.