Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Trading 1.5% Higher

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) shares traded up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $99.47 and last traded at $95.11. 1,211,082 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average session volume of 3,030,554 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the subject of several recent research reports. HSBC lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Albemarle from $122.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Albemarle from $127.00 to $102.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $136.35.

Albemarle Trading Down 6.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $10.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $102.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.33 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors 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 an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Albemarle news, 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 owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,034,787,000 after acquiring an additional 82,874 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 128.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,022,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,979,885 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $838,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396,624 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $749,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,476,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $502,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,719 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Company Profile

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.