Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lowered its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 80.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,846 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 11,456 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Albemarle were worth $205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,405,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,256,294,000 after purchasing 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.
Albemarle Trading Up 1.8%
NYSE:ALB traded up $1.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $77.12. The company had a trading volume of 6,222,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,933,256. The firm has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.94 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.11. The business's fifty day moving average is $62.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.00. Albemarle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $113.91.
Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.92% and a negative net margin of 22.39%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. Albemarle's revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.
Albemarle Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.57%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ALB. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albemarle to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, TD Securities dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.00.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Albemarle
Albemarle Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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