Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Trail Ridge Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Activest Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Core Alternative Capital grew its stake in Albemarle by 342.9% in the 1st quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 124 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in Albemarle by 188.1% in the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 121 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Albemarle by 51.2% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. 84.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 7th. UBS Group raised shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $196.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, June 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.45.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of ALB stock traded down $2.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $185.33. 374,265 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,941,000. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $171.82 and a fifty-two week high of $334.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.74. The company has a market capitalization of $21.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $207.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $211.74.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $7.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.27 by $3.06. Albemarle had a net margin of 40.55% and a return on equity of 45.88%. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 60.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 26.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.81%.

Albemarle Profile

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.