Polianta Ltd Makes New $993,000 Investment in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Polianta Ltd purchased a new stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 13,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $993,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,908 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 4,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in Albemarle by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 39,657 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,414,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 626 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake 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 worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ALB shares. TD Securities cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho cut their price objective on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.62.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE ALB traded down $1.84 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.65. 2,499,182 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,885,509. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $57.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.00. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $113.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a PE ratio of -5.41 and a beta of 1.61.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. 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. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -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.