Ameriflex Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 25,439.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,748 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 11,702 shares during the quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $138,723,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 48.5% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $179,870,000 after purchasing an additional 937,538 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 22,047.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 713,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,613,000 after purchasing an additional 710,589 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,482,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 1,278.8% in the 3rd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 440,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $35,725,000 after purchasing an additional 408,652 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ALB. Argus lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $140.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Evercore raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $167.00 to $190.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.24.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.2%

Albemarle stock opened at $161.93 on Friday. Albemarle Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.43 and a 52-week high of $206.00. The company has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.37.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 10.74%.Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.09) EPS. Analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently -28.17%.

Albemarle 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.