23,200 Shares in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Bought by Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 23,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,997,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd acquired a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALB. Citigroup cut 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. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Securities decreased their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $91.62.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB traded down $1.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $55.76. 10,822,790 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,851,646. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $59.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.98 and a beta of 1.71. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $125.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. The business's revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Albemarle's payout ratio is -14.57%.

Albemarle Company 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.