245 Shares in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Bought by First Financial Corp IN

First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 245 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kingfisher Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% in the third quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 14,117 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,401,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. USCF Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 18,298 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,644,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was 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 directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Berenberg Bank raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $132.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Bank of America raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.78.

Albemarle Stock Up 5.8 %

NYSE ALB traded up $5.37 on Wednesday, hitting $98.14. 2,833,667 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,049,787. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $118.42 and a 200 day moving average of $124.14. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $92.29 and a twelve month high of $247.44. The company has a market capitalization of $11.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $10.32 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.18%.

Albemarle Company 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.