Sankala Group LLC Invests $580,000 in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Sankala Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,102 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $580,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Earnest Partners LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,630,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $230,603,000 after acquiring an additional 207,770 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Albemarle by 3.7% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $119,710,000 after purchasing an additional 52,698 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Albemarle by 1.8% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,464,000 after purchasing an additional 22,856 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $175,542,000 after purchasing an additional 453,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth about $165,271,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total value of $3,011,721.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 87,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,078,990.68. The trade was a 15.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ALB shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $230.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Vertical Research raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.54.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $160.13 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $180.19 and its 200 day moving average is $168.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $18.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.96, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.30. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $55.90 and a twelve month high of $221.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.18) earnings per share. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

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

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.