Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Purchased by Czech National Bank

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 29th, 2023

Czech National Bank boosted its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Free Report) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,801 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 51.2% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth $46,000. 87.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Trading Down 4.4 %

ALB opened at $217.00 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $171.82 and a 52 week high of $334.55. The firm has a market cap of $25.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $204.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $226.24.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $10.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.93 by $3.39. The firm had revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.74 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 45.57% and a net margin of 41.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 128.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 22.77 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 15th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 5.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Eric Norris bought 1,260 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $195.49 per share, for a total transaction of $246,317.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,596 shares in the company, valued at $5,199,252.04. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kristin M. Coleman acquired 1,373 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $182.00 per share, for a total transaction of $249,886.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $249,886. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Eric Norris acquired 1,260 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $195.49 per share, for a total transaction of $246,317.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 26,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,199,252.04. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 8,103 shares of company stock worth $1,489,774. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Albemarle from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Albemarle from $350.00 to $277.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Scotiabank cut Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 10th. Loop Capital raised their target price on Albemarle from $397.00 to $403.00 in a report on Friday, March 17th. Finally, HSBC lowered their target price on Albemarle from $360.00 to $300.00 in a report on Friday, June 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $282.90.

Albemarle Profile

(Free Report)

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Lithium, Bromine, and Catalysts. The Lithium segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, lithium chloride, and lithium specialties and reagents, such as butyllithium and lithium aluminum hydride for use in lithium batteries for consumer electronics and electric vehicles, high performance greases, thermoplastic elastomers for car tires, rubber soles, plastic bottles, catalysts for chemical reactions, organic synthesis processes in the areas of steroid chemistry and vitamins, life sciences, pharmaceutical industry, and other markets.