Havemeyer Place LP Invests $923,000 in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• Havemeyer Place LP opened a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter, buying 6,526 shares valued at about $923,000.
• Other institutional investors also increased their ALB holdings, and the stock remains 92.87% owned by institutions.
• Analysts currently have a Moderate Buy consensus on Albemarle, with an average price target of $203.04; the company also recently beat earnings expectations and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.405 per share.

Havemeyer Place LP purchased a new position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,526 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $923,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $816,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 782 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas lifted its stake in Albemarle by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 2,423 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ALB. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered shares of Albemarle from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $188.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $153.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $253.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One 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 issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $203.04.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB stock opened at $155.73 on Monday. The firm 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 1.31. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.10. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $55.90 and a one year high of $221.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.07.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 5.00% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. Albemarle's revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In related 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 value of $3,011,721.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,078,990.68. This trade represents a 15.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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