IvyRock Asset Management HK Ltd Takes Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

IvyRock Asset Management HK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 8,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,000. Albemarle makes up 0.6% of IvyRock Asset Management HK Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $119,710,000 after buying an additional 52,698 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,464,000 after buying an additional 22,856 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $175,542,000 after buying an additional 453,881 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $165,271,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $130,415,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $230.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.04.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total value of $3,011,721.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at $16,078,990.68. The trade was a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $165.73 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.83. The company has a market cap of $19.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Albemarle Corporation has a 52 week low of $55.90 and a 52 week high of $221.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 5.00% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -47.51%.

Albemarle 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.