K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Purchases Shares of 9,070 Albemarle Corporation $ALB

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 9,070 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,225,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BOKF NA increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 5,771.4% during the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 536.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 121.5% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 299 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Vertical Research raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $166.00 to $157.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Albemarle from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.26.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.4%

ALB opened at $134.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 497.13 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.09. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.80. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $71.25 and a twelve month high of $221.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 600.00%.

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.