Centaurus Financial Inc. Cuts Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Centaurus Financial Inc. lessened its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) by 27.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,567 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 593 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ALB. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at $11,616,000. Aurora Investment Counsel boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 5,595 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 19,673 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,202,000 after purchasing an additional 3,358 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 239.6% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 703 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,640,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.24% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In related news, CFO Scott Tozier sold 417 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.49, for a total transaction of $106,539.33. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,213,614.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,836 shares of company stock valued at $1,917,699. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ALB shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $497.00 to $498.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 28th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $345.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $308.00.

Albemarle Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $208.49 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $254.16 and a 200 day moving average of $262.37. The firm has a market cap of $24.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.14, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.57. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $185.15 and a 1 year high of $334.55.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.60 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 36.75% and a return on equity of 37.63%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was up 193.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 30.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 16th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 6.92%.

Albemarle 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.