Koss Olinger Consulting LLC Cuts Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Koss Olinger Consulting LLC lessened its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 22.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 11,266 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,243 shares during the quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Strategic Advocates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. BOKF NA increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5,771.4% in the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 536.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Vertical Research upgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Berenberg Bank set a $153.00 price objective on Albemarle in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total transaction of $3,011,721.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at $16,078,990.68. The trade was a 15.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $176.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $20.79 billion, a P/E ratio of -51.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $183.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.76. Albemarle Corporation has a 1-year low of $53.70 and a 1-year high of $221.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. The business 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. Analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. 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.