Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC Has $5.04 Million Position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Albemarle worth $5,041,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $39,405,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,256,294,000 after acquiring an additional 359,014 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,192,527 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $102,653,000 after acquiring an additional 320,150 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 17.4% during the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,167,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $84,085,000 after acquiring an additional 173,441 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 6,393.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 152,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $10,975,000 after acquiring an additional 150,047 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE ALB traded down $0.60 on Friday, hitting $67.39. 2,322,265 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,858,122. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.06 and a beta of 1.63. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $113.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 2.11 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company's 50 day moving average price is $60.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.15.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The business 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. Analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ALB. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.