Westside Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 45.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. Westside Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter worth about $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 2,942.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Vertical Research cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.78.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $100.12 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $11.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s fifty day moving average is $116.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.57. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $92.29 and a 1 year high of $247.44.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.