Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Albemarle Put Options (NYSE:ALB)

Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 32,597 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 156% compared to the typical daily volume of 12,738 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,457,296.64. This trade represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Albemarle

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 9,108.7% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 574,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,440,000 after purchasing an additional 568,563 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,660,000 after buying an additional 282,194 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 67.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,333,000 after purchasing an additional 264,756 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 7,667.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 163,659 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $155,000,000 after buying an additional 161,552 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $66,839,000 after acquiring an additional 157,319 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $89.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.44. Albemarle has a fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $153.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.18. The company has a market capitalization of $10.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.32 and a beta of 1.56.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.