Dorsey Wright & Associates Makes New $12.09 Million Investment in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Dorsey Wright & Associates purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 67,339 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,089,000. Albemarle accounts for about 1.5% of Dorsey Wright & Associates’ portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ALB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $165,271,000. Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $130,415,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 4,338.5% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 738,430 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $104,444,000 after buying an additional 721,793 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 22,047.4% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 713,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,613,000 after acquiring an additional 710,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth $47,088,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total value of $3,011,721.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at $16,078,990.68. This trade represents a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $120.84 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.44 and a beta of 1.34. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $64.95 and a twelve month high of $221.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $156.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $168.12.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.18) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 13.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Argus lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their target price on Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $230.00 to $264.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.52.

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.