WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,303 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,616,000. Aurora Investment Counsel increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 5,595 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 19,673 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,202,000 after purchasing an additional 3,358 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 239.6% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 703 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,640,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.24% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, CFO Scott Tozier sold 417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.49, for a total value of $106,539.33. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 75,203 shares in the company, valued at $19,213,614.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 7,836 shares of company stock valued at $1,917,699 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ALB shares. Credit Suisse Group restated an “underperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $340.00 to $362.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $308.00.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $208.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $24.44 billion, a PE ratio of 9.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $254.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $262.44. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $185.15 and a twelve month high of $334.55.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $8.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.46 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.60 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 36.75% and a return on equity of 37.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 193.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. Research analysts expect 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 paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 16th. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 6.92%.

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.