B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Has $486,000 Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,358 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 687 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $486,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. MONECO Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 4,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $597,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,034,787,000 after purchasing an additional 82,874 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Willner & Heller LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $258,000. Finally, Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Geo Capital Gestora de Recursos Ltd now owns 18,457 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,667,000 after acquiring an additional 625 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.9 %

Albemarle stock opened at $94.66 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $119.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.59. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $92.29 and a twelve month high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.49 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 paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.18%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $194,950.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America raised shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.61.

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.