SG Americas Securities LLC Has $2.21 Million Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 209.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,295 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,359 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 51.2% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. City State Bank grew its position in Albemarle by 60.0% during the third quarter. City State Bank now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new position in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ALB. Bank of America upgraded Albemarle from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $149.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $128.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 5th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.70.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $128.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.62. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $106.69 and a one year high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.62 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 3.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 11.99%.

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.