Albemarle Corporation $ALB Position Reduced by Grandfield & Dodd LLC

Grandfield & Dodd LLC reduced its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 251,355 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,828 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC owned about 0.21% of Albemarle worth $20,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. PGGM Investments grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,080,000 after acquiring an additional 115,081 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle in the third quarter worth $3,313,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 14.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 165,074 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,384,000 after purchasing an additional 21,257 shares during the period. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in Albemarle during the second quarter valued at $267,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 11.4% during the second quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 866,575 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,308,000 after acquiring an additional 88,457 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $187.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -118.22, a P/E/G ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.14. Albemarle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $189.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 0.43% and a positive return on equity of 0.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.55) EPS. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is -101.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Albemarle from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Albemarle from $132.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Hsbc Global Res raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $152.48.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.