Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC reduced its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 48.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,942 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 6,587 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC's holdings in Albemarle were worth $598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth $85,570,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,405,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Albemarle by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,256,294,000 after acquiring an additional 359,014 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,192,527 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $102,653,000 after purchasing an additional 320,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $11,694,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Albemarle Stock Up 3.5 %
ALB traded up $1.90 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $56.61. 3,357,217 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,697,932. The company has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.05 and a beta of 1.59. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $137.50. The company's fifty day moving average price is $73.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.57. 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 (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.
Albemarle Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.46%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI downgraded Albemarle from an "outperform" rating to an "inline" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $100.70.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Albemarle
Albemarle Company Profile
(
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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