Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by EP Wealth Advisors LLC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 16.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,454 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 656 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter valued at $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised 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 period. Finally, First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter worth $32,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $135.00 target price (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. HSBC cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $159.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.65.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB traded up $1.80 on Friday, reaching $92.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,868,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,707,672. The company has a fifty day moving average of $105.63 and a 200-day moving average of $116.83. The company has a market capitalization of $10.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.74, a PEG ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.57. 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 one year low of $90.02 and a one year high of $215.82.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $10.32 earnings per share. Albemarle’s revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.