BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Acquires New Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 15,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,304,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 71.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 6,234 shares in the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 28,824 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,481,000 after acquiring an additional 4,899 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 172.1% in the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,405 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 4,051 shares in the last quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle by 50.5% in the fourth quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. now owns 38,964 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $3,354,000 after acquiring an additional 13,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beech Hill Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,952,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $122.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $96.05.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $54.76 on Wednesday. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $137.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.89 and a beta of 1.59. The company's 50-day moving average is $70.11 and its 200 day moving average is $86.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is presently -14.46%.

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.

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