Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,130,000 shares, an increase of 7.5% from the May 31st total of 15,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.3 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. MONECO Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 4,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 430.7% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 43,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,230,000 after purchasing an additional 34,994 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 10,667 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Albemarle by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,874 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,449,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (down previously from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $157.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.78.

Albemarle Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE ALB traded up $2.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $99.28. The stock had a trading volume of 558,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,068,918. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $116.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.73. Albemarle has a 52 week low of $92.29 and a 52 week high of $247.44. The company has a market capitalization of $11.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.84.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

Albemarle Company 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.