Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Holdings Reduced by TAP Consulting LLC

TAP Consulting LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 5,248 shares during the period. TAP Consulting LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $4,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,660,000 after acquiring an additional 282,194 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Albemarle by 71.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 6,234 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 28,824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,481,000 after purchasing an additional 4,899 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,067,000 after purchasing an additional 93,718 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $62,333,000 after buying an additional 264,756 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.30.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:ALB opened at $79.70 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $82.09 and its 200-day moving average is $91.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $67.23 and a 12 month high of $137.50. The firm has a market cap of $9.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.12 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. Equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -14.46%.

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.