Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 82,874 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.00% of Albemarle worth $2,034,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA grew its position in Albemarle by 430.7% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 43,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,230,000 after acquiring an additional 34,994 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 80.3% during the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,359,000 after buying an additional 8,799 shares during the period. Commerce Bank boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 10,667 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 235.9% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 12,107 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,749,000 after buying an additional 8,503 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on ALB shares. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Vertical Research lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.11.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $99.55 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.70 billion, a PE ratio of 36.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.23. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $98.70 and a 12-month high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $10.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 2.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

About Albemarle

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.