First Financial Corp IN Acquires New Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 245 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USCF Advisers LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new position in Albemarle during the third quarter worth $35,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Albemarle by 2,942.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 21,400.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 215 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB traded up $5.37 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $98.14. The company had a trading volume of 2,833,667 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,049,787. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.84. The stock has a market cap of $11.53 billion, a PE ratio of 35.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.61. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $92.29 and a 12-month high of $247.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $118.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.14.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The firm’s revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $10.32 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ALB. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price 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. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.78.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In related news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, 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.

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.