Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by Park Place Capital Corp

Park Place Capital Corp lowered its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 39.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 255 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 163 shares during the quarter. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $34,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kingfisher Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 14,117 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Regatta Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. USCF Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 18,298 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,644,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Albemarle Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $97.43 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $11.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $117.20 and its 200-day moving average is $123.08. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $92.29 and a 52-week high of $247.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.84.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Berenberg Bank upgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Vertical Research cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $157.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.78.

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.