Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Invests $4.87 Million in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 34,405 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,866,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. raised its stake in Albemarle by 2.8% in the third quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. now owns 3,332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 18.2% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 677 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 36.8% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.2% during the third quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 10,160 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 134,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,995,808.68. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $179.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $206.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $171.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.78. The company has a market capitalization of $21.14 billion, a PE ratio of -31.19, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.43.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for 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%.Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.09) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $158.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $145.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $147.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.24.

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.