NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Grows Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Free Report) by 183.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,465 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,303 shares during the quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $7,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 124,405.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 104,510,053 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $22,664,050,000 after acquiring an additional 104,426,113 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 79,043.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,407,165 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,405,387 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 45.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,378,866 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $299,021,000 after purchasing an additional 432,155 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $75,802,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.1% in the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,230,612 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $266,871,000 after purchasing an additional 269,994 shares during the period. 87.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Get Albemarle alerts:

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $270.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 26th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $328.00 to $224.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $397.00 to $403.00 in a report on Friday, March 17th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, June 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $240.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Monday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.90.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, insider Eric Norris bought 1,260 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $195.49 per share, with a total value of $246,317.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 26,596 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,199,252.04. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO J Kent Masters acquired 5,470 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $181.64 per share, with a total value of $993,570.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,348,284.24. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Eric Norris acquired 1,260 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $195.49 per share, with a total value of $246,317.40. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 acquired 8,103 shares of company stock valued at $1,489,774. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB opened at $237.52 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $27.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.62, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $171.82 and a 12-month high of $334.55. The company’s 50 day moving average is $210.80 and its 200 day moving average is $225.32.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $10.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.93 by $3.39. The firm had revenue of $2.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.74 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 41.89% and a return on equity of 45.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 128.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 23.12 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, June 16th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 15th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.13%.

About Albemarle

(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.

Featured Stories

• Five stocks we like better than Albemarle
• Commercial Metals Winning Infrastructure and Datacenter Customers
• Biogen Shares Fall After FDA Approval Of Alzheimer’s Drug Leqembi
• Shell’s Production Outlook: Not as Bad as Expected?
• Tyson Foods Becomes a Value Play, Cyclical Bull Run Coming
• Enphase Energy is Still Converting Solar Energy into Profits

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ALB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Free Report).

Receive News & Ratings for Albemarle Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Albemarle and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.