Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd Buys Shares of 400 Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 50.4% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 48.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. First Community Trust NA boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,908 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 4,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $401,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Down 12.0 %

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $58.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.23 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.14. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $57.53 and a one year high of $137.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.30.

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.