Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) Short Interest Up 15.5% in February

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 9,924,799 shares, a growth of 15.5% from the February 12th total of 8,590,028 shares. Approximately 8.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,429,450 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days. Based on an average daily volume of 2,429,450 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days. Approximately 8.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ALB shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Albemarle from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial set a $210.00 target price on Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Albemarle from $109.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Scotiabank upgraded Albemarle from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Albemarle from $195.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.24.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total transaction of $2,012,654.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 782 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $111,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas boosted its position in Albemarle by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 2,423 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $166.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Albemarle has a 52-week low of $49.43 and a 52-week high of $206.00.

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

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -28.17%.

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.