OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Increases Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,881 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 172 shares during the quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 311,437 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,996,000 after buying an additional 15,409 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $363,000. United Asset Strategies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 46.8% during the 4th quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 3,283 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in Albemarle by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 9,166 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,324,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock traded down $0.60 during trading on Thursday, hitting $113.79. 670,918 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,303,417. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $106.69 and a 52 week high of $247.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $8.62 earnings per share. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.05.

Albemarle 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.