Stephens Inc. AR Has $335,000 Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Stephens Inc. AR lowered its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 41.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,536 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,554 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Community Trust NA acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the second quarter worth $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 610.0% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the third quarter worth $31,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 61.9% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2,142.1% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.00.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $99.93 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.13 and a beta of 1.55. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $153.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $93.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($1.24). The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.39 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. Equities analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -34.25%.

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.