Bank of Stockton Purchases 764 Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

Bank of Stockton raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 15.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,714 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the quarter. Bank of Stockton’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund bought a new stake in Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at $491,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 91.6% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 8,882 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 4,247 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth about $3,816,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Albemarle by 48.3% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,477 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ALB shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.62.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $60.40 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $58.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.07. The company has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.43 and a beta of 1.61. Albemarle Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.43 and a 12 month high of $113.91.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.44. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 22.39% and a negative return on equity of 1.92%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.57%.

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.