Diversified Trust Co Invests $719,000 in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,004 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $719,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,630,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $230,603,000 after acquiring an additional 207,770 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.7% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $119,710,000 after acquiring an additional 52,698 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,464,000 after acquiring an additional 22,856 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 57.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $175,542,000 after purchasing an additional 453,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $165,271,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Albemarle from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Albemarle from $253.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.54.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $147.67 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $178.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.07. Albemarle Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.85 and a 52-week high of $221.00. The stock has a market cap of $17.42 billion, a PE ratio of -43.31, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.30.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 5.00% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.18) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.39 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -47.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Albemarle Company 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.