Oxford Wealth Group LLC Makes New $683,000 Investment in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Oxford Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 5,184 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter worth $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2,942.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Albemarle stock traded up $0.84 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $92.51. The stock had a trading volume of 2,388,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,024,283. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.10. The stock has a market cap of $10.87 billion, a PE ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.57. 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 12 month low of $90.02 and a 12 month high of $215.82.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. Albemarle’s revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $10.32 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.18%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $170.00 to $127.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of 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 raised shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $145.65.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.