Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Purchases 1,571 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,836 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,571 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $4,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ALB. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Albemarle by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in Albemarle by 606.5% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. First Community Trust NA boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.30.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.2 %

ALB stock opened at $77.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.94 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.04. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $67.23 and a 1-year high of $137.50.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. Analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.46%.

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.