Albemarle Corporation $ALB Stock Holdings Reduced by Summit Securities Group LLC

Summit Securities Group LLC reduced its position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 76.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,588 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 5,088 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Evexia Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 2,088 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $816,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $508,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 782 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,078,990.68. This represents a 15.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $153.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $253.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.58.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $128.37 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.64 and a beta of 1.34. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $165.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.24. 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 twelve month low of $64.95 and a twelve month high of $221.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued 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. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.18) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post 13.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.51%.

About Albemarle

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.