Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Cuts Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lowered its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,554 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 408 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned 0.06% of Albemarle worth $9,471,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Albemarle by 51.2% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 5,212 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,378,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,593 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Up 6.7 %

NYSE ALB opened at $131.70 on Tuesday. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.69 and a 1 year high of $247.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $15.48 billion, a PE ratio of 9.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a fifty day moving average of $122.05 and a 200 day moving average of $131.88.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.62 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 11.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $175.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Friday, February 9th. TD Cowen cut Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Albemarle in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.70.

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.