IFP Advisors Inc Has $768,000 Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 91.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,882 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 4,247 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc's holdings in Albemarle were worth $768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. First Community Trust NA lifted its position in Albemarle by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 48.9% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock traded down $7.10 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $69.93. 4,337,919 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,527,677. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.26. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $69.81 and a fifty-two week high of $140.22. The stock has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.24 and a beta of 1.59.

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

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ALB shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target 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. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective 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. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.68.

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.