Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Acquired by U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 59.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,090 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,279 shares during the quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALB. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter valued at $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 610.0% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. USCF Advisers LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Albemarle by 2,942.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter valued at $32,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB stock traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $81.65. 2,165,687 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,089,660. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $98.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.43. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $79.00 and a 1-year high of $203.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The firm has a market cap of $9.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 58.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ALB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. HSBC lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Albemarle news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Profile

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.