Larson Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 44.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 980 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 303 shares during the quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $84,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ALB. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 340.6% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. First Community Trust NA boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE ALB opened at $72.84 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $83.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.61. The stock has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.50 and a beta of 1.70. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $67.23 and a 12-month high of $137.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. On average, analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ALB. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.05.

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.