Investors Buy Large Volume of Albemarle Put Options (NYSE:ALB)

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 19,316 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 40% compared to the typical daily volume of 13,773 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,908 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 4,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 39,657 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,414,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 626 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 471 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB traded down $1.66 on Tuesday, hitting $59.30. 1,102,793 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,872,382. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $58.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.90. The firm has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.30 and a beta of 1.61. Albemarle has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $113.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.44. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.18 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is presently -14.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ALB shares. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Albemarle from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Albemarle from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $68.00 target price on Albemarle and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $91.62.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.

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