Focus Partners Wealth Purchases Shares of 64,271 Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 64,271 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $5,532,000. Focus Partners Wealth owned approximately 0.05% of Albemarle at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 135,194 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $12,804,000 after acquiring an additional 4,131 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 25,452 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,191,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $310,000. Finally, SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $228,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock traded up $0.63 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $59.87. 636,667 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,787,510. The firm's 50-day moving average is $62.93 and its 200 day moving average is $81.32. The company has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.34 and a beta of 1.71. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $131.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

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 $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Albemarle's payout ratio is -14.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Albemarle from an "outperform" rating to an "inline" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Albemarle to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.