D.A. Davidson & CO. Acquires Shares of 3,623 Albemarle Corporation $ALB

D.A. Davidson & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 3,623 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $513,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,798 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at $208,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at $411,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 536.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $180.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $210.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a report on Friday, April 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $183.00.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 134,628 shares in the company, valued at $22,995,808.68. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $194.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.91, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $179.01 and its 200 day moving average is $152.97. Albemarle Corporation has a 1 year low of $53.70 and a 1 year high of $215.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 10.74%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.09) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post 8.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently -28.17%.

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.