Willner & Heller LLC Invests $258,000 in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Willner & Heller LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,787 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd boosted its stake in Albemarle by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd now owns 18,457 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,667,000 after buying an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 54.4% during the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 2,134 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 752 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $731,000 after buying an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,145,000. Finally, Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $102,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

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

Albemarle Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of ALB traded down $4.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $103.51. 3,910,603 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,115,649. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $103.32 and a 12-month high of $247.44. The company has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.61.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $10.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 2.49 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Bank of America upgraded Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Vertical Research lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Albemarle from $132.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.11.

Albemarle 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.