Vanguard Group Inc. Has $2.06 Billion Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• Vanguard trimmed its stake in Albemarle by 0.5% in Q4, selling 74,501 shares and now holds 14,529,573 shares — a 12.34% position worth about $2.06 billion.
• Q4 results showed EPS of ($0.53) vs. ($0.40) expected (a miss) while revenue rose 15.9% to $1.43 billion and beat consensus; the company still reports a negative net margin and a negative P/E.
• Analysts have been raising price targets (average target $178.28) amid split ratings (13 Buy, 13 Hold, 2 Sell); CEO J. Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares (~$2.01M) and Albemarle pays a quarterly dividend of $0.405 (annualized $1.62, ~0.8% yield).

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,529,573 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 74,501 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.34% of Albemarle worth $2,055,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PGGM Investments grew its position in Albemarle by 10.8% in the third quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $96,080,000 after acquiring an additional 115,081 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter worth $3,313,000. Nordea Investment Management AB acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $6,171,000. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $1,055,000. Finally, Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 53.8% in the third quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 200,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $16,216,000 after buying an additional 70,000 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $190.93 on Thursday. Albemarle Corporation has a 12 month low of $53.70 and a 12 month high of $215.71. The company's 50-day moving average price is $177.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $22.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.43.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.09) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 8.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is presently -28.17%.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ALB shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $210.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen 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 an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $178.28.

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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