Grandfield & Dodd LLC Increases Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 231,022 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,820 shares during the quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $19,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in Albemarle by 606.5% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. First Community Trust NA increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 48.9% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Albemarle Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of ALB opened at $77.03 on Monday. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $143.19. The company has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.88 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.26.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted 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 return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -14.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.68.

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.