River Street Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

River Street Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,390 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ALB. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 610.0% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2,142.1% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.47.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.4 %

ALB stock traded up $1.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $103.53. 2,498,086 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,971,724. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.17 billion, a PE ratio of -6.18 and a beta of 1.55. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $153.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $95.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.06.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.67%.

About Albemarle

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.