WINTON GROUP Ltd Purchases 17,467 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 22.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 95,264 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,467 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd owned about 0.08% of Albemarle worth $13,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. BOKF NA grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 5,771.4% in the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 536.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were 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 directly 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 at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Albemarle from $210.00 to $236.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Albemarle from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $188.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Albemarle from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.04.

Albemarle Trading Down 6.0%

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $155.73 on Friday. Albemarle Corporation has a 52-week low of $55.90 and a 52-week high of $221.00. The company has a market capitalization of $18.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.76. 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 (NYSE:ALB) last issued its 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 negative net margin of 5.00% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.18) EPS. Albemarle’s revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -47.51%.

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.