Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Sells 2,208 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 23.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,024 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,208 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 10.7% in the first quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 50,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,624,000 after acquiring an additional 4,872 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 243,036 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $17,503,000 after purchasing an additional 12,014 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at $271,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 184,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,282,000 after purchasing an additional 6,487 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 2,151.9% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 60,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,234,000 after buying an additional 58,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $82.18 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.82 and a beta of 1.63. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $113.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $69.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.83.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.94. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%. The business’s revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.04 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently -17.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ALB. Robert W. Baird restated an “underperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Mizuho set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price target on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, TD Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.06.

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.