Renaissance Investment Group LLC Buys 480 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Renaissance Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) by 23.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,569 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $557,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new position in Albemarle during the third quarter worth $28,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Albemarle by 51.2% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the third quarter worth $37,000. Trustcore Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 49.0% during the third quarter. Trustcore Financial Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its stake in Albemarle by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.24% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE ALB traded down $6.12 on Friday, hitting $208.49. 2,300,271 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,927,739. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $254.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $262.37. The company has a market cap of $24.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $185.15 and a 1-year high of $334.55.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $8.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.46 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.60 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 37.63% and a net margin of 36.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 193.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 30.2 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 16th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 7.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ALB. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $340.00 to $362.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Credit Suisse Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $297.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 11th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $308.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, CFO Scott Tozier sold 417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.49, for a total transaction of $106,539.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,213,614.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,836 shares of company stock valued at $1,917,699. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Albemarle Profile

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Albemarle Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of chemicals for consumer electronics, petroleum refining, utilities, packaging, construction, transportation, pharmaceuticals, crop production, food-safety, and custom chemistry services. It operates through the following business segments: Lithium, Bromine, Catalysts, and All Other.