Ethos Financial Group LLC Lowers Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Ethos Financial Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,216 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 531 shares during the quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 21,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 215 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB traded up $3.09 during trading on Thursday, reaching $133.55. 1,938,939 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,179,423. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $106.69 and a 12 month high of $247.44. The company has a 50 day moving average of $123.39 and a 200-day moving average of $125.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.65.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.32 EPS. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Albemarle in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.05.

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.