Albemarle Corporation $ALB Shares Sold by Mizuho Markets Cayman LP

Mizuho Markets Cayman LP decreased its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 50.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,946 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 14,409 shares during the period. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,954,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $184,782,000 after buying an additional 59,104 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Albemarle in the third quarter worth about $138,723,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 3.7% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $119,710,000 after acquiring an additional 52,698 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments boosted its stake in Albemarle by 10.8% in the third quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,080,000 after acquiring an additional 115,081 shares during the period. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 6.0% in the second quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 835,806 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $52,380,000 after acquiring an additional 47,200 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 134,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,995,808.68. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America upgraded Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $167.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $210.00 price objective on Albemarle and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Monday, December 29th. HSBC raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Albemarle from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.24.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $162.39 on Tuesday. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $206.00. The company has a market cap of $19.11 billion, a PE ratio of -28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $129.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.13). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 10.74% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.09) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -28.17%.

Albemarle 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.