Private Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 20,434 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,657,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Albemarle in the third quarter valued at approximately $138,723,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.7% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $119,710,000 after acquiring an additional 52,698 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,464,000 after acquiring an additional 22,856 shares during the period. PGGM Investments lifted its position in Albemarle by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,080,000 after acquiring an additional 115,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 835,806 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $52,380,000 after acquiring an additional 47,200 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Albemarle from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Bank of America upgraded Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $167.00 to $190.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Albemarle from $147.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Albemarle from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, HSBC raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.24.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $165.80 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $171.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $206.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.51 billion, a PE ratio of -28.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.43.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 10.74%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.09) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is -28.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,628 shares in the company, valued at $22,995,808.68. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.