Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Taylor Hoffman Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 14,034 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,208,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,552 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $220,000. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in Albemarle by 606.5% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. City Holding Co. raised its holdings in Albemarle by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 2,960 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Albemarle by 48.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on ALB shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Albemarle from an "outperform" rating to an "inline" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.62.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $59.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.30 and a beta of 1.71. The firm's fifty day moving average is $62.67 and its 200 day moving average is $81.17. 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 52-week low of $49.43 and a 52-week high of $130.80.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. The company 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%. Albemarle's revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is currently -14.57%.

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.

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