Westside Investment Management Inc. Purchases 370 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 45.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MONECO Advisors LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 4,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA increased its stake in Albemarle by 430.7% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 43,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,230,000 after acquiring an additional 34,994 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $731,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its stake in Albemarle by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 10,667 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,874 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,449,000 after acquiring an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $157.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Berenberg Bank raised 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 note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $132.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.78.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $100.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $92.29 and a one year high of $247.44. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.77 billion, a PE ratio of 36.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $10.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 2.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

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.