Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Purchased by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,196 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 21,400.0% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 215 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 147.2% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ALB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Vertical Research lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.05.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $112.30 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.77. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $106.69 and a 12-month high of $247.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $13.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.42, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results 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. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $8.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.