Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Bought by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 544.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,151 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,732 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2,942.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ALB shares. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $159.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.65.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:ALB traded down $0.31 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $90.57. 211,894 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,025,585. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.02 and a fifty-two week high of $215.82. The company has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a PE ratio of 33.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $107.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.32.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $10.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 1.57 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.18%.

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.