Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Has $6.02 Million Holdings in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC cut its stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,530 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 7,626 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $6,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PGGM Investments boosted its stake in Albemarle by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,080,000 after purchasing an additional 115,081 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter worth $3,313,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 165,074 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,384,000 after purchasing an additional 21,257 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new position in Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth $6,171,000. Finally, Bard Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 42,895 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,478,000 after purchasing an additional 13,380 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,995,808.68. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ALB. Zacks Research lowered shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.60.

Albemarle Trading Down 2.4%

Albemarle stock opened at $185.22 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $171.93 and a 200-day moving average of $143.70. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $50.85 and a one year high of $206.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company has a market cap of $21.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.43.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.13). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 10.74%.The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.09) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -28.17%.

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.