M&T Bank Corp Has $10.38 Million Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,257 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 2,055 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $10,382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 2nd quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Trustcore Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Trustcore Financial Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 82.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other news, CFO Scott Tozier sold 1,719 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total transaction of $378,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 63,384 shares in the company, valued at $13,944,480. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,836 shares of company stock worth $1,917,699. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Albemarle Trading Down 4.9 %

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $214.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.89. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $185.15 and a 52-week high of $334.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $254.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $263.66. The stock has a market cap of $25.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.57.

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

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 16th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 7.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on ALB shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $325.00 to $328.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 17th. Citigroup reduced their target price 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. Credit Suisse Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, Vertical Research raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $275.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $303.00.

Albemarle 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.