Sanders Morris Harris LLC Purchases Shares of 5,000 Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $360,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Albemarle by 71.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 6,234 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 28,824 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,481,000 after purchasing an additional 4,899 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 172.1% in the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,405 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 4,051 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 2,151.9% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 60,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $5,234,000 after purchasing an additional 58,100 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.2%

Albemarle stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $59.84. 1,512,410 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,863,477. 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 stock has a market cap of $7.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.34 and a beta of 1.61. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $120.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.89.

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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial cut their target price on Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. TD Securities cut their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their price objective on Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Albemarle to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.