Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Shares Up 1.1%

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)’s share price shot up 1.1% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $93.60 and last traded at $93.10. 400,541 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 3,049,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ALB. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $122.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $145.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.65.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.6 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $107.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.32. 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 company has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.07, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 1.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $10.32 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cove Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Albemarle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,828,000. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 11,408 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 8,482 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $810,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Harbour Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 49,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,695,000 after purchasing an additional 4,182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,726 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.