Cibc World Markets Corp Grows Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Cibc World Markets Corp increased its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 299.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,684 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,755 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp owned approximately 0.05% of Albemarle worth $5,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $85,570,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% in the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 282,194 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 67.3% in the 3rd 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. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,694,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,067,000 after purchasing an additional 93,718 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.30.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $79.70 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $67.23 and a one year high of $137.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.12 and a beta of 1.70. The business has a fifty day moving average of $82.09 and a 200 day moving average of $91.17.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.46%.

Albemarle Profile

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.