Grandfield & Dodd LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,546 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 25,221 shares during the period. Albemarle makes up approximately 1.7% of Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Grandfield & Dodd LLC owned about 0.15% of Albemarle worth $24,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Albemarle by 51.2% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, City State Bank increased its holdings in Albemarle by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.3 %

ALB traded up $0.35 on Friday, reaching $112.15. 1,976,050 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,648,784. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $106.69 and a twelve month high of $247.44. The company’s 50 day moving average is $123.05 and its 200-day moving average is $129.47. 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 company has a market cap of $13.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a PEG ratio of 2.26 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.62 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Vertical Research lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $220.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.05.

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.