8,452 Shares in Albemarle Corporation $ALB Purchased by Financial Enhancement Group LLC

Financial Enhancement Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 8,452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,671,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 17.8% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,046 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 8.5% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,445 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $798,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Albemarle in the first quarter worth approximately $198,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in Albemarle by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 6,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Albemarle by 37.6% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 47,334 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $8,498,000 after purchasing an additional 12,929 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ALB. UBS Group upped their target price on Albemarle from $230.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Albemarle from $230.00 to $244.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $253.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.54.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total value of $3,011,721.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,078,990.68. This trade represents a 15.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $147.67 on Thursday. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $58.85 and a 12-month high of $221.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.42 billion, a PE ratio of -43.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.18) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -47.51%.

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.