Axa S.A. Cuts Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

AXA S.A. trimmed its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 66.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,133 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 6,344 shares during the quarter. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Albemarle were worth $270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at $279,000. 4WEALTH Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at $1,151,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth about $1,308,000. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its stake in Albemarle by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 4,865 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup cut their target price on Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. TD Securities cut their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Mizuho cut their target price on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $92.43.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.8%

ALB stock traded down $1.08 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $60.00. The stock had a trading volume of 2,046,965 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,780,807. The firm has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.36 and a beta of 1.71. The business has a 50-day moving average of $63.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.29. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $49.43 and a 52-week high of $137.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) 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 firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is currently -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.