Albemarle Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:ALB)

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 21,658 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 18% compared to the typical daily volume of 18,337 put options.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock traded up $5.65 during trading on Thursday, hitting $78.50. The stock had a trading volume of 4,701,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,124,251. The firm has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. Albemarle has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $203.62. The business’s 50-day moving average is $95.08 and its 200 day moving average is $113.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. Albemarle’s revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 58.91%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Albemarle

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the 4th 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. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.11.

About Albemarle

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.