Quest Partners LLC Purchases 1,859 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 20,655.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,868 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,859 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 45.0% during the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,407 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in Albemarle by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 257 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $87.44 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.05. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $188.47. The firm has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.80, a P/E/G ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. Albemarle’s revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.33 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 58.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on ALB shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $102.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.10.

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.