Prospera Financial Services Inc Purchases 9,018 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 76.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 20,816 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,018 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,680 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $662,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 960 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $136,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares in the last quarter. Orange Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at about $308,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, Orca Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $307,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

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 stock was sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total transaction of $3,011,721.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 87,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Albemarle from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $210.00 to $236.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $253.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.42.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $174.78 on Wednesday. Albemarle Corporation has a 1-year low of $53.70 and a 1-year high of $221.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.61 billion, a PE ratio of -51.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.36.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 5.00% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.45 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -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.