Unified Investment Management Buys Shares of 5,936 Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,936 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $511,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP increased its position in Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in Albemarle by 606.5% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, First Community Trust NA grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $77.03 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $85.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.26. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $143.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a PE ratio of -6.88 and a beta of 1.59.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. Equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.68.

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.