Verus Capital Partners LLC Grows Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Verus Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 22.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,320 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 434,230 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $57,206,000 after purchasing an additional 19,579 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Albemarle in the first quarter worth about $275,000. KCM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 32.3% in the first quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,061 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,457,000 after buying an additional 2,700 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its position in Albemarle by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 23,900 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,149,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB traded down $0.91 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $94.58. 705,018 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,069,345. The company’s 50-day moving average is $112.46 and its 200 day moving average is $119.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.12 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.57. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $90.32 and a 52 week high of $239.45.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $10.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ALB. UBS Group dropped their price target on Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $159.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Albemarle from $170.00 to $127.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.32.

Albemarle Profile

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.