Ballentine Partners LLC Buys New Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,368 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 176.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $209,333,000 after buying an additional 3,662,117 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at about $49,007,000. PGGM Investments increased its position in Albemarle by 261.6% during the 1st quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 413,492 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,473,000 after buying an additional 299,148 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 115.7% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 542,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,791,000 after buying an additional 290,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 22.9% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,423,897 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $187,584,000 after buying an additional 265,313 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $96.65 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $91.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.18. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $153.54. The company has a market capitalization of $11.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The business’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.33 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -34.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ALB. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.30.

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.