Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Sells 3,070 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,070 shares during the quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,950,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. BOKF NA boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 5,771.4% during the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 36.8% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 536.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Stephens reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Albemarle from $147.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $165.00 target price on Albemarle in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Albemarle from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.24.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,995,808.68. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Albemarle Stock Up 2.8%

Albemarle stock opened at $179.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $206.00. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $171.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.78.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.13). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 10.74%.The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.09) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -28.17%.

Albemarle Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.