Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) Stock Sees Heavy Call Option Buying

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 14,722 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 97% compared to the average volume of 7,492 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Albemarle

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 190.1% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 293 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at $54,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.3%

ALB stock opened at $98.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 363.92, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.09. Albemarle has a one year low of $88.01 and a one year high of $221.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $120.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $146.07.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle will post 11.25 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4050. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 607.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley restated a “reduce” rating and set a $161.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Barclays assumed coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $109.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.74.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and markets materials used in energy storage, transportation, consumer products and industrial applications. The company is best known for its lithium business, which supplies lithium compounds used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics and energy-storage systems.

Albemarle also produces bromine-based specialty chemicals used in areas such as fire safety, water treatment, pharmaceutical manufacturing and other industrial processes.