Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 860 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 18.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,786 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 860 shares during the period. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 14.2% during the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 78,729 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,387,000 after purchasing an additional 9,796 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Albemarle by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 52,414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,912,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Albemarle by 383.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 19,064 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,242,000 after acquiring an additional 15,118 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 1,035.2% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 76,012 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,922,000 after acquiring an additional 69,316 shares during the period. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 228.7% in the third quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 4,447 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 3,094 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Up 8.1 %

ALB opened at $100.28 on Thursday. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $92.29 and a 1-year high of $247.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.79 billion, a PE ratio of 36.47, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.61. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $118.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $123.97.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ALB. Mizuho increased their target price on Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Albemarle in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, 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.

Albemarle 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.