CPC Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

CPC Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,929 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,603,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 25.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 26.2% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,798 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $208,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $411,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ALB. Zacks Research upgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Albemarle from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Albemarle from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.54.

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 value of $3,011,721.96. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,078,990.68. This trade 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 this link. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:ALB opened at $160.13 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $180.19 and a 200-day moving average of $168.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.88 billion, a PE ratio of -46.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.31. Albemarle Corporation has a 52 week low of $55.90 and a 52 week high of $221.00.

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, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.18) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.39 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

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

About Albemarle

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.