Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Albemarle (NYSE:ALB)

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 23,671 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 34% compared to the typical daily volume of 17,615 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter worth about $25,000. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter worth about $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 610.0% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2,942.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird cut Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.10.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $89.36 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a PE ratio of 32.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.92 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $88.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $188.47.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 58.91%.

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.