Albemarle Corporation $ALB Position Trimmed by Summit Securities Group LLC

Summit Securities Group LLC decreased its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 76.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,588 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 5,088 shares during the quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter worth $25,000. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. BOKF NA boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 5,771.4% in the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 536.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $128.37 on Friday. Albemarle Corporation has a 1 year low of $64.95 and a 1 year high of $221.00. The company has a market cap of $15.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.64 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.07, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $165.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.24.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 5.22% and a negative net margin of 5.00%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.18) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 13.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently -47.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the company’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 owned 87,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,078,990.68. This represents a 15.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.42% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ALB. Scotiabank upped their price objective 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. Citigroup raised shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 5th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Argus raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.58.

About Albemarle

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.