American Trust Cuts Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

American Trust cut its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) by 8.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,423 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 126 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Green Square Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.6% during the third quarter. Green Square Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,321 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $614,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% during the third quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,671 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.4% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Decatur Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.8% during the second quarter. Decatur Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,269 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 51.2% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. 82.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $214.61 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $185.15 and a 12 month high of $334.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.89 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $254.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.15 billion, a PE ratio of 9.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $8.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.46 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.60 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 37.63% and a net margin of 36.75%. Albemarle’s revenue was up 193.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 30.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 16th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ALB. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Albemarle from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 28th. Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Albemarle from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Albemarle from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, CFO Scott Tozier sold 417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.49, for a total value of $106,539.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,203 shares in the company, valued at $19,213,614.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,836 shares of company stock worth $1,917,699. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Albemarle Company Profile

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Albemarle Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of chemicals for consumer electronics, petroleum refining, utilities, packaging, construction, transportation, pharmaceuticals, crop production, food-safety, and custom chemistry services. It operates through the following business segments: Lithium, Bromine, Catalysts, and All Other.