Albemarle Corporation $ALB Shares Sold by Himension Capital Singapore PTE. LTD.

Himension Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. reduced its stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 211,423 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 17,262 shares during the period. Albemarle makes up approximately 2.9% of Himension Capital Singapore PTE. LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Himension Capital Singapore PTE. LTD.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $37,957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Evexia Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 2,088 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% in the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 2,952 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at $16,078,990.68. This trade represents a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $166.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.87.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $118.56 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $152.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.96. The company has a market cap of $13.98 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.77 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $64.95 and a twelve month high of $221.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $1.71. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -47.51%.

About Albemarle

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.