B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Makes New Investment in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,709 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. abrdn plc now owns 42,529 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,031,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,925 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 61.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB stock opened at $109.98 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.44. The stock has a market cap of $12.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.57 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.85. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $153.54.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -9.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.47.

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.