Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Purchased by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 80.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,990 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,364 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 340.6% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. First Community Trust NA raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Albemarle to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $92.43.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE ALB opened at $57.93 on Monday. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $137.50. The business’s fifty day moving average is $64.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.17 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.57%.

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.