Bank of New York Mellon Corp Acquires 158,713 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon increased its Albemarle stake by 21.7% in Q4, buying 158,713 shares and bringing its total holding to 890,327 shares valued at about $125.9 million.
• Several other institutional investors also added to their positions, and 92.87% of Albemarle shares are now held by institutions, showing strong professional ownership interest.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $203.04, while Albemarle also reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and raised revenue 32.7% year over year.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 890,327 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 158,713 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.76% of Albemarle worth $125,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 52,698 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $102,464,000 after acquiring an additional 22,856 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 57.7% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $175,542,000 after acquiring an additional 453,881 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $165,271,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $130,415,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at $16,078,990.68. The trade was a 15.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $203.04.

Albemarle Stock Down 6.0%

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $155.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.21. Albemarle Corporation has a 1 year low of $55.90 and a 1 year high of $221.00. The firm's 50-day moving average is $183.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.76. The stock has a market cap of $18.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.67, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.30.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. The company's revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Albemarle's payout ratio is currently -47.51%.

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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