CVA Family Office LLC Buys Shares of 325 Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eagle Strategies LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 149.3% in the third quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after acquiring an additional 8,420 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Albemarle by 5.4% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,270,000 after acquiring an additional 14,593 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 80.3% in the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,359,000 after acquiring an additional 8,799 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Albemarle by 8.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $70,179,000 after acquiring an additional 33,662 shares during the period. Finally, Gendell Jeffrey L purchased a new position in Albemarle in the third quarter worth approximately $6,802,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho cut their price target on Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Vertical Research cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $176.70.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE ALB opened at $131.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.69 and a 52-week high of $247.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $121.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.17. The firm has a market cap of $15.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $8.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.99%.

Albemarle 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.