Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys Shares of 2,844 Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,844 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $375,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 149.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 8,420 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,593 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 430.7% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 43,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,230,000 after purchasing an additional 34,994 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 80.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,359,000 after purchasing an additional 8,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $70,179,000 after purchasing an additional 33,662 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ALB. Vertical Research lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.16.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE ALB traded down $3.51 on Thursday, reaching $122.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,751,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,077,823. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $14.45 billion, a PE ratio of 45.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $106.69 and a 52 week high of $247.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $124.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.87.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $10.32 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 58.18%.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.