Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Takes Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 41,850 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,393,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 10,050.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 7,257.1% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 515 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 536.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Albemarle by 248.0% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 689 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Albemarle in the second quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group upgraded Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $107.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Albemarle from $100.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $113.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.21.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.8%

NYSE:ALB opened at $144.00 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $16.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -90.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.07 and a beta of 1.41. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $152.08. The company has a current ratio of 2.27, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.36.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 0.43% and a positive return on equity of 0.10%. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.55) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -101.89%.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.