Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Has $90,000 Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 50.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 600 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $90,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter worth $25,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Albemarle by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. City State Bank grew its holdings in Albemarle by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on ALB shares. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $155.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Bank of America upgraded Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Berenberg Bank upgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.05.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.7 %

ALB opened at $120.50 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $123.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $106.69 and a one year high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.62 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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.