7,012 Shares in Albemarle Corporation $ALB Bought by Chesley Taft & Associates LLC

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 7,012 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $992,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. BOKF NA lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5,771.4% in the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 36.8% in 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 during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 536.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Albemarle during the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ALB. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Truist Financial set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Evercore upped their price objective on Albemarle from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $165.00 target price on Albemarle in a report on Monday, February 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.24.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $179.33 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Albemarle Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $206.00. The company has a market capitalization 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $171.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.22.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 10.74%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.09) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 134,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Company 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.