Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 6,728 Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Forty three Eighteen Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 6,728 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $952,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $816,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 782 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas boosted its position in Albemarle by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 2,423 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Albemarle from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Albemarle from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Albemarle from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total transaction of $3,011,721.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,078,990.68. This represents a 15.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB opened at $160.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.07. The company has a market cap of $18.88 billion, a PE ratio of -46.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $180.19 and a 200-day moving average of $168.40. Albemarle Corporation has a 52-week low of $55.90 and a 52-week high of $221.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $1.71. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The firm’s revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -47.51%.

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.