Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Purchases 19,099 Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 20.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,508 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,099 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Albemarle worth $8,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 340.6% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Up 4.1%

ALB traded up $2.36 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $60.18. The company had a trading volume of 3,123,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,863,127. The company has a market capitalization of $7.08 billion, a PE ratio of -5.41 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $113.91. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $58.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.25.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.18 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.92% and a negative net margin of 22.39%. Albemarle's revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation 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 issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Albemarle's payout ratio is -14.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ALB. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Albemarle to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $91.62.

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.