Gallo Partners LP Invests $1.54 Million in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Gallo Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 17,936 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,544,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 189.3% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 26,032 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,241,000 after buying an additional 17,033 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 8,374 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $724,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,290,797 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $111,112,000 after purchasing an additional 139,600 shares during the last quarter. Decade Renewable Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $1,231,000. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,432,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $123,280,000 after purchasing an additional 8,243 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ALB. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Securities cut their price target on Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $94.24.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of ALB traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $60.23. 3,470,004 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,752,045. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $137.50. The firm's fifty day moving average is $66.40 and its 200-day moving average is $84.29. 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 capitalization of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.38 and a beta of 1.59.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. The company's revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle's payout ratio is -14.46%.

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.