Vigilare Wealth Management Makes New Investment in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Vigilare Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 5,283 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $747,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. BOKF NA lifted 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 valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 36.8% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $156.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.57. Albemarle Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $206.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 10.74%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.09) EPS. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -28.17%.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 134,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,995,808.68. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Monday, December 29th. HSBC raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on Albemarle from $158.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Zacks Research downgraded Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Stephens restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.24.

Albemarle Company 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.