2,510 Shares in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Bought by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,510 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $363,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Fairfield Bush & CO. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 5,565 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 186.4% during the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,898 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $635,000 after acquiring an additional 1,886 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,859 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ALB. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Citigroup boosted 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. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.05.

Albemarle Stock Down 2.3 %

Albemarle stock opened at $111.77 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.62. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $106.69 and a 1-year high of $247.44. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. The business 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 for the quarter was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.62 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.99%.

Albemarle Company 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.