Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Purchased by FLC Capital Advisors

FLC Capital Advisors increased its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 21.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 727 shares during the period. FLC Capital Advisors’ holdings in Albemarle were worth $600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Fairfield Bush & CO. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 15.0% during the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 5,565 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in Albemarle by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $968,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Albemarle by 186.4% in the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,898 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,943,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Albemarle by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,859 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB traded up $9.78 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $128.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,721,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,469,465. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $120.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.19. 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 has a market capitalization of $15.12 billion, a PE ratio of 9.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.62. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $106.69 and a one year high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. Albemarle’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 3.37 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. TD Cowen cut Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Bank of America raised Albemarle from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $154.00 to $149.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $176.70.

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.