Sicart Associates LLC Decreases Holdings in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Sicart Associates LLC lowered its position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,902 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,410 shares during the period. Albemarle makes up about 1.8% of Sicart Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Sicart Associates LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $6,634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PGGM Investments grew its holdings in Albemarle by 10.8% in the third quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,080,000 after purchasing an additional 115,081 shares during the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth $3,313,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 165,074 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,384,000 after buying an additional 21,257 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth about $6,171,000. Finally, Bard Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Albemarle by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 42,895 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,478,000 after acquiring an additional 13,380 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Monday, December 29th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $207.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $195.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Evercore upped their target price on Albemarle from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

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

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $179.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.43. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $206.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $171.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.78.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 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 10.74% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.09) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -28.17%.

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.