K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Makes New $1.63 Million Investment in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc purchased a new position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 9,070 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,628,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,630,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $230,603,000 after purchasing an additional 207,770 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Albemarle by 3.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,464,000 after purchasing an additional 22,856 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 57.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 453,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $165,271,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Albemarle Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE ALB opened at $135.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.95 billion, a PE ratio of -39.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $170.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.20. 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 $64.24 and a 52 week high of $221.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The firm’s revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ALB. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Albemarle from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. HSBC increased their price target on Albemarle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $153.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.58.

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.