Koss Olinger Consulting LLC Takes $1.88 Million Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Koss Olinger Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 19,653 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,877,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 610.0% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Albemarle by 2,942.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in Albemarle in the first quarter valued at $32,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ALB shares. Berenberg Bank cut Albemarle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Albemarle from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $85.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $117.10.

Albemarle Stock Down 6.9 %

Shares of ALB stock traded down $5.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $76.90. 3,495,879 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,070,142. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $89.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.45. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $189.19. The stock has a market cap of $9.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.96, a PEG ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.33 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is a positive change from Albemarle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.91%.

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.