Triasima Portfolio Management inc. Buys Shares of 16,325 Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Triasima Portfolio Management inc. bought a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 16,325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,309,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle in the third quarter valued at about $138,723,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Albemarle by 3.7% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $119,710,000 after buying an additional 52,698 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Albemarle by 1.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,464,000 after buying an additional 22,856 shares during the period. PGGM Investments lifted its stake in Albemarle by 10.8% in the third quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,080,000 after buying an additional 115,081 shares during the period. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 60.9% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 784,083 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,138,000 after buying an additional 296,861 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE ALB opened at $193.96 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $22.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $178.48 and its 200-day moving average is $152.29. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $53.70 and a one year high of $215.71.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.09) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post 8.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -28.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore increased their target price on Albemarle from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Bank of America increased their target price on Albemarle from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho increased their target price on Albemarle from $156.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Berenberg Bank set a $153.00 price target on Albemarle in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Albemarle from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $183.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total transaction 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 approximately $22,995,808.68. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

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.