Grimes & Company Inc. Sells 85,640 Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

Grimes & Company Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 95.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,029 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 85,640 shares during the quarter. Grimes & Company Inc.'s holdings in Albemarle were worth $290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle by 340.6% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new stake in Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Albemarle Trading Down 4.5%

Shares of NYSE ALB traded down $2.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $56.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,537,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,858,353. The stock has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.10 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.26. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $113.91. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $58.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.77.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 22.39% and a negative return on equity of 1.92%. The company 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 company posted $0.26 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is -14.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 target price on shares of Albemarle and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Securities lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Albemarle to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.62.

About Albemarle

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.