Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Stake Lowered by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 351,406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 15,500 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.30% of Albemarle worth $46,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Albemarle by 0.5% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. USCF Advisers LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 18,298 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,644,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 65.3% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 276 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Albemarle Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of Albemarle stock traded down $2.65 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $95.22. 588,773 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,072,939. The stock has a market cap of $11.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a 50 day moving average of $113.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.32 and a fifty-two week high of $239.45.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.32 earnings per share. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $135.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. UBS Group decreased their price target on Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $148.32.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.