Courier Capital LLC Has $1.85 Million Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Courier Capital LLC cut its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,009 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 482 shares during the quarter. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,034,787,000 after purchasing an additional 82,874 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Albemarle by 128.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,022,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979,885 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in Albemarle by 31.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $838,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396,624 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $749,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,476,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $502,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,719 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $157.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB traded down $4.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $96.27. 3,834,628 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,074,285. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.84. The company has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a PE ratio of 35.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.78. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $92.29 and a 1-year high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

Albemarle Profile

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.