Militia Capital Partners LP Increases Stock Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Militia Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 380.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,500 shares during the quarter. Militia Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $973,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. BOKF NA boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 5,771.4% in the third quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 70.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 692 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $165.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a report on Monday, February 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $210.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Albemarle from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.24.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 134,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,995,808.68. This trade represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB stock opened at $162.39 on Tuesday. 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. The company has a market cap of $19.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $171.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.49.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 10.74% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.09) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is -28.17%.

Albemarle 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.