IvyRock Asset Management HK Ltd Takes Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

IvyRock Asset Management HK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,000. Albemarle accounts for about 0.6% of IvyRock Asset Management HK Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $119,710,000 after acquiring an additional 52,698 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,464,000 after acquiring an additional 22,856 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $175,542,000 after acquiring an additional 453,881 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $165,271,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $130,415,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ALB. Weiss Ratings upgraded Albemarle from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $170.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $153.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.04.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.5%

ALB opened at $165.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.07 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $184.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.83. Albemarle Corporation has a 1-year low of $55.90 and a 1-year high of $221.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.30.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $1.71. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 5.00% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.18) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -47.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the firm’s 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.