Oakmont Investment Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 7,050 Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Oakmont Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 7,050 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $952,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ALB. Evexia Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 2.3% in the first quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 2,088 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp grew its position in shares of 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 worth $508,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ALB shares. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $225.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.04.

Albemarle Trading Down 4.3%

Albemarle stock opened at $126.51 on Friday. Albemarle Corporation has a 52 week low of $71.25 and a 52 week high of $221.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 468.57, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $158.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%.The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 600.00%.

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.