Payden & Rygel Investment Group Invests $184,000 in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Payden & Rygel Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALBFree Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $184,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter worth about $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $157.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a report on Friday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $122.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Three equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $145.65.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Albemarle

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB traded up $0.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $91.00. The stock had a trading volume of 2,775,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,044,294. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.09, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $106.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.13. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $90.02 and a twelve month high of $215.82.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALBGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $10.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

Albemarle Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Albemarle (NYSE:ALB)

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