Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Has $1.45 Million Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. grew its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 33.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,535 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 142.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,043,861 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $177,499,000 after acquiring an additional 612,963 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 15,046.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 347,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $502,450,000 after acquiring an additional 345,467 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,555,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $224,802,000 after acquiring an additional 174,391 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 14.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,221,765 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $207,749,000 after acquiring an additional 151,158 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 10.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,570,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $267,117,000 after acquiring an additional 146,450 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ALB. Vertical Research lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.05.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock traded up $1.88 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $114.17. 1,779,584 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,273,945. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.56, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.62. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $122.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.77. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $106.69 and a 52 week high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $8.62 EPS. Albemarle’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.99%.

About Albemarle

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.