Yousif Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 14.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,162 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,892 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Albemarle worth $6,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,908 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 4,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Albemarle by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,982 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in Albemarle by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 39,657 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,414,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 626 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ALB shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albemarle to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $91.62.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB traded down $1.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $60.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,499,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,881,396. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $58.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95. The company has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.41 and a beta of 1.61. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $113.91.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. Albemarle's revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is presently -14.57%.

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.