Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Albemarle (NYSE:ALB)

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors purchased 57,985 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 177% compared to the typical daily volume of 20,905 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $110.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Stephens restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Albemarle from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $107.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $120.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. grew its position in Albemarle by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. now owns 3,332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 18.2% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 677 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.2% in the third quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 10,160 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Albemarle by 7.5% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock traded up $2.58 on Monday, hitting $146.51. 1,228,479 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,083,057. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $122.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -92.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 1.41. Albemarle has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $152.08.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 0.43% and a positive return on equity of 0.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.55) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -101.89%.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.