Old North State Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

Old North State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 19.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,245 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 4,132 shares during the period. Old North State Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 340.6% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 62.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 471 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE ALB opened at $63.82 on Friday. Albemarle Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.43 and a 52 week high of $113.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $7.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.74 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $58.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.76.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.18 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 22.39% and a negative return on equity of 1.92%. Albemarle's quarterly revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. TD Securities cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Three investment 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle 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.

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