Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 366,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 10,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.31% of Albemarle worth $53,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in Albemarle in the third quarter worth $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new position in Albemarle in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 21,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 215 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE:ALB opened at $130.78 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $123.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.37 billion, a PE ratio of 47.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $106.69 and a 12 month high of $247.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $10.32 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $160.00 to $150.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.80.

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.