Tidal Investments LLC Acquires 274 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,457 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the quarter. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at $267,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 5.3% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 4,542 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 50.4% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 15.2% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 39,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after acquiring an additional 5,197 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter valued at $344,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ALB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.47.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $97.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $101.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $11.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.83 and a beta of 1.56. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $153.54.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -9.67%.

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.