SageView Advisory Group LLC Has $248,000 Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,714 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 430.7% during the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 43,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,230,000 after buying an additional 34,994 shares during the period. Commerce Bank boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 10,667 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $731,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 235.9% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 12,107 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after buying an additional 8,503 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 8.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $70,179,000 after buying an additional 33,662 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $93.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $93.73 and a 1-year high of $247.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $120.62 and its 200-day moving average is $124.86.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $10.32 EPS. Albemarle’s revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ALB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Albemarle from $132.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Vertical Research cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $135.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $165.11.

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.