HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 20,349 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 48.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,247 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 20,349 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 25.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 26.2% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,798 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $208,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $411,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 536.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ALB. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $253.00 to $257.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.42.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $176.26 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.76. Albemarle Corporation has a 1 year low of $53.70 and a 1 year high of $221.00. The company has a market capitalization of $20.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced 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 business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.39 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -47.51%.

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.