Krane Funds Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 17.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,747 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 5,925 shares during the quarter. Albemarle comprises about 0.1% of Krane Funds Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Krane Funds Advisors LLC's holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trek Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $2,848,000. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth about $212,000. Himension Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 50.7% in the 4th quarter. Himension Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. now owns 220,834 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $19,009,000 after acquiring an additional 74,322 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 32.1% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 216,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $18,645,000 after acquiring an additional 52,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Old West Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,510,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
ALB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $100.70.
Get Our Latest Research Report on ALB
Albemarle Stock Performance
Shares of ALB stock traded up $1.90 during trading on Friday, reaching $56.61. 3,357,217 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,697,932. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $137.50. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $73.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a PE ratio of -5.05 and a beta of 1.59.
Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.
Albemarle Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is currently -14.46%.
About Albemarle
(
Free Report)
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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