DAVENPORT & Co LLC Reduces Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC decreased its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 139,134 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 13,427 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Albemarle worth $18,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 period. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Albemarle by 2,942.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Corp IN purchased a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the completion of 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. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB traded up $1.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $97.95. 2,702,978 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,100,084. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $114.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The company has a market capitalization of $11.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.57. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $90.32 and a 1 year high of $246.71.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $10.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.63%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $157.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $159.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.16.

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.