Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC Makes New Investment in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 492 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,660,000 after buying an additional 282,194 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 71.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 6,234 shares in the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 28,824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,481,000 after buying an additional 4,899 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $66,839,000 after buying an additional 157,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 28.5% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,067,000 after buying an additional 93,718 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Trading Down 9.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $69.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of -6.24 and a beta of 1.59. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $69.81 and a 1 year high of $140.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $85.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued 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%. Analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $255,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.