Toronto Dominion Bank Sells 794 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Toronto Dominion Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,302 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 794 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2,942.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 100.8% in the 1st quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 253 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.10.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE ALB opened at $96.05 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $11.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company’s 50 day moving average is $86.56 and its 200-day moving average is $105.51. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $177.52.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The company’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 58.91%.

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.