Albemarle Corporation $ALB Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 77.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 72,857 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 247,641 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.06% of Albemarle worth $13,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. BOKF NA boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5,771.4% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 536.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the period. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ALB. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Albemarle from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Albemarle from $230.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of Albemarle from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $199.22.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total value 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 trade represents a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $117.46 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. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $64.95 and a 12-month high of $221.00. The business's 50 day moving average is $142.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.76. The company has a market capitalization of $13.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.45 and a beta of 1.34.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The business's revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a boost from Albemarle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -48.09%.

Albemarle 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.

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