5,775 Shares in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Acquired by Ameriflex Group Inc.

Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 5,775 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $486,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 48.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Albemarle to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.62.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE ALB traded down $0.52 during trading on Thursday, hitting $57.53. The stock had a trading volume of 2,865,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,814,659. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $126.36. The company has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a PE ratio of -5.14 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $60.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.56.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is currently -14.57%.

Albemarle Company 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.