Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Purchases 183 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 3rd, 2023

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) by 20.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,094 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,933,369 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,684,541,000 after purchasing an additional 158,005 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,419,869 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,490,991,000 after purchasing an additional 128,223 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,364,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,188,408,000 after purchasing an additional 16,968 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,247,801 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $275,952,000 after purchasing an additional 155,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 33.6% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 865,408 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $191,386,000 after purchasing an additional 217,538 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.24% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $221.04 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $250.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $257.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.93 billion, a PE ratio of 9.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $185.15 and a 12-month high of $334.55.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $8.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.46 by $0.16. Albemarle had a net margin of 36.75% and a return on equity of 37.63%. The company had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 193.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 30.2 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 16th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently 7.01%.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CFO Scott Tozier sold 417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.49, for a total transaction of $106,539.33. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 75,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,213,614.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 7,836 shares of company stock valued at $1,917,699 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $497.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $297.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 11th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $345.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $340.00 to $362.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Vertical Research raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.00.

Albemarle Company Profile

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Albemarle Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of chemicals for consumer electronics, petroleum refining, utilities, packaging, construction, transportation, pharmaceuticals, crop production, food-safety, and custom chemistry services. It operates through the following business segments: Lithium, Bromine, Catalysts, and All Other.