Traders sold shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) on strength during trading hours on Monday. $33.33 million flowed into the stock on the tick-up and $68.70 million flowed out of the stock on the tick-down, for a money net flow of $35.37 million out of the stock. Of all stocks tracked, Albemarle Corporation had the 0th highest net out-flow for the day. Albemarle Corporation traded up $0.26 for the day and closed at $118.60
ALB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Albemarle Corporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Albemarle Corporation in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Jefferies Group LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Albemarle Corporation in a report on Friday, June 16th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of Albemarle Corporation in a report on Thursday, June 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Albemarle Corporation from $100.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $104.80.
The stock has a market cap of $13.25 billion, a PE ratio of 29.06 and a beta of 1.59. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $111.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.71.
Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $722.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $678.74 million. Albemarle Corporation had a return on equity of 11.97% and a net margin of 17.02%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post $4.37 earnings per share for the current year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Albemarle Corporation’s payout ratio is presently 31.22%.
In other news, EVP Karen G. Narwold sold 20,000 shares of Albemarle Corporation stock in a transaction on Monday, June 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.16, for a total value of $2,163,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,120 shares in the company, valued at $4,880,179.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas L. Maine sold 10,000 shares of Albemarle Corporation stock in a transaction on Monday, June 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.94, for a total value of $1,079,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,606,751. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 105,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,499,850. 0.74% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation by 6.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,287,799 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,298,083,000 after buying an additional 725,702 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation by 2,805.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,310,717 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $877,947,000 after buying an additional 8,024,668 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation by 12.0% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,421,530 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $677,728,000 after buying an additional 689,054 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation by 0.5% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,356,839 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $671,675,000 after buying an additional 30,662 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation by 3.9% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,269,067 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $239,703,000 after buying an additional 84,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.17% of the company’s stock.
About Albemarle Corporation
Albemarle Corporation is a global developer, manufacturer and marketer of highly-engineered specialty chemicals. The Company operates through three segments: Lithium and Advanced Materials, Bromine Specialties and Refining Solutions. Lithium and Advanced Materials segment consist of two product categories: Lithium and Performance Catalyst Solutions.
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