Traders Purchase Large Volume of Albemarle Call Options (NYSE:ALB)

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 96,143 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 382% compared to the average daily volume of 19,967 call options.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE ALB traded up $1.27 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $134.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,388,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,599,733. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $49.43 and a 12 month high of $135.13. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $15.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -84.58 and a beta of 1.43.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 0.43% and a positive return on equity of 0.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.55) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -101.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,954,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $184,782,000 after acquiring an additional 59,104 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 48.5% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $179,870,000 after purchasing an additional 937,538 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $138,723,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $110,814,000 after purchasing an additional 343,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,464,000 after purchasing an additional 22,856 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ALB. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $100.00 price objective (up previously from $95.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Albemarle from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Albemarle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.63.

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.