KBC Group NV Cuts Stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

KBC Group NV reduced its stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 59.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,622 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 14,116 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Albemarle were worth $693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 471 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Albemarle by 92.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 23,288 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,005,000 after buying an additional 11,207 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth $209,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,040,970 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $89,607,000 after buying an additional 20,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in Albemarle by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 6,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ALB shares. Scotiabank cut their price target on Albemarle from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Albemarle from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Albemarle to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.62.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Albemarle stock traded down $0.60 on Friday, hitting $67.39. 2,322,265 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,855,608. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $60.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.43 and a 52 week high of $113.91. The company has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of -6.06 and a beta of 1.63.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 22.39% and a negative return on equity of 1.92%. Albemarle's revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.57%.

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.