Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. Increases Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 12.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,915 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,427 shares during the quarter. Albemarle makes up 1.8% of Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 40.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 14,260 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,424,000 after buying an additional 4,130 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Albemarle by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 74,449 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,659,000 after purchasing an additional 19,479 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Albemarle by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,457 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,628,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Albemarle by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $70,179,000 after purchasing an additional 33,662 shares during the period. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 3,629 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ALB. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $122.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.78.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE ALB traded down $1.74 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $98.35. 2,229,817 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,221,296. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.08. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $92.29 and a one year high of $247.44. The company has a market cap of $11.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.57.

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

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 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.