Uncommon Cents Investing LLC Sells 165 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Uncommon Cents Investing LLC lessened its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 165 shares during the quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 5,565 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,231,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $968,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Albemarle by 186.4% during the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,898 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in Albemarle by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,859 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $131.74 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $106.69 and a 12-month high of $247.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $8.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 11.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ALB shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $155.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. TD Cowen lowered Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Piper Sandler lowered Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $128.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.70.

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.