Park Place Capital Corp Sells 163 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Park Place Capital Corp lessened its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 39.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 255 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 163 shares during the quarter. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $34,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth $377,341,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $157.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Albemarle from $122.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $97.43 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.57. The business’s 50 day moving average is $117.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 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.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The business’s revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $10.32 EPS. Analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Albemarle’s 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.