Albemarle Corporation $ALB Shares Sold by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lessened its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,551 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 6,726 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Albemarle worth $19,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALB. PGGM Investments increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,080,000 after acquiring an additional 115,081 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,313,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 165,074 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,384,000 after purchasing an additional 21,257 shares during the last quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Albemarle by 45.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 42,895 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,478,000 after purchasing an additional 13,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 53.8% in the third quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $16,216,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ALB. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Albemarle from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Truist Financial set a $210.00 target price on Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $165.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $147.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.24.

Albemarle Stock Up 2.4%

ALB stock opened at $181.32 on Thursday. Albemarle Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.43 and a 52 week high of $206.00. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -28.17%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 134,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,995,808.68. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

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.