33,252 Shares in Albemarle Corporation $ALB Acquired by Occidental Asset Management LLC

Occidental Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 33,252 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,490,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evexia Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 2,088 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% in 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 position in Albemarle by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $816,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp grew its position in Albemarle by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 2,952 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $508,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Vertical Research raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.26.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE ALB opened at $134.22 on Tuesday. Albemarle Corporation has a 1 year low of $71.25 and a 1 year high of $221.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $15.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 497.13 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $133.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.80.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 600.00%.

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.