Pinkerton Wealth LLC Takes Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Pinkerton Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 19,689 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,785,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Albemarle by 3.7% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $119,710,000 after buying an additional 52,698 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Albemarle by 1.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,464,000 after buying an additional 22,856 shares in the last quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. bought a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $130,415,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 60.9% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 784,083 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,138,000 after buying an additional 296,861 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Albemarle by 4,338.5% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 738,430 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $104,444,000 after buying an additional 721,793 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at $16,078,990.68. This represents a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:ALB opened at $170.28 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $182.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.29. Albemarle Corporation has a 52 week low of $53.70 and a 52 week high of $221.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $20.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.94, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.36.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -47.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ALB shares. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $195.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.26.

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.