Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Makes New Investment in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 15,196 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,308,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its holdings in Albemarle by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 4,865 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Talon Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $719,000. Gallo Partners LP acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth about $1,544,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 189.3% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 26,032 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,241,000 after purchasing an additional 17,033 shares during the period. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 5.5% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Securities reduced their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $92.43.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Albemarle stock traded up $0.49 on Friday, hitting $57.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,162,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,766,486. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $64.62 and a 200 day moving average of $82.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $137.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.17 and a beta of 1.71.

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 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 the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.57%.

Albemarle Company 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.