US Bancorp DE Sells 16,868 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

US Bancorp DE lowered its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 764,320 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 16,868 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE owned approximately 0.65% of Albemarle worth $100,692,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ALB. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter worth $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Albemarle by 2,942.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in Albemarle in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $159.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $122.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $148.32.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB traded up $2.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $97.72. 2,586,475 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,084,529. The business’s 50 day moving average is $112.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.50. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.32 and a fifty-two week high of $239.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

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

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.18%.

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.