Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Albemarle (NYSE:ALB)

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 15,407 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 22% compared to the average volume of 12,675 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Albemarle by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in Albemarle by 606.5% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new position in Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. National Pension Service grew its stake in Albemarle by 74.5% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Down 4.7%

NYSE ALB opened at $56.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.05 and a beta of 1.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.00. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $49.43 and a 12 month high of $129.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.62.

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.