Albemarle Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:ALB)

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock investors bought 24,330 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 116% compared to the average daily volume of 11,265 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI downgraded Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Clarkson Capital began coverage on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.30.

Albemarle Stock Down 9.0 %

Albemarle stock traded down $5.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $60.54. The stock had a trading volume of 1,763,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,528,857. The company has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.41 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Albemarle has a one year low of $58.04 and a one year high of $137.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.36.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. On average, analysts expect that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -14.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth about $85,570,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,405,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,256,294,000 after purchasing an additional 359,014 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Albemarle by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,192,527 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,653,000 after purchasing an additional 320,150 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 67.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $62,333,000 after purchasing an additional 264,756 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

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.