Empirical Finance LLC Raises Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,186 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,034,787,000 after purchasing an additional 82,874 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 128.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,022,420,000 after buying an additional 3,979,885 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $838,025,000 after buying an additional 1,396,624 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $749,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in Albemarle by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,476,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $502,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,719 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE ALB opened at $97.85 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $113.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $90.32 and a 1 year high of $246.00. The company has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a PE ratio of 35.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.57.

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). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $10.32 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 at this link. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on ALB. Citigroup decreased their price target on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $157.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a report on Friday, May 24th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $159.00 to $151.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.32.

About Albemarle

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.