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

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Albemarle by 12.2% during the first quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,595 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $93,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 1,153.5% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 52,135 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,755,000 after purchasing an additional 47,976 shares during the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 14.9% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 84,162 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $6,061,000 after purchasing an additional 10,892 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE ALB traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $60.94. The stock had a trading volume of 2,330,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,879,203. The company has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.44 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $113.91. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.90.

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, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.44. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price target on shares of Albemarle and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Albemarle from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Securities lowered 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle 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.