Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Decreases Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co cut its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,206 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 517 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $975,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter worth about $25,000. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 610.0% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2,942.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ALB shares. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI cut 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.10.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $86.05 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $177.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $10.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.29, a PEG ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $87.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.07.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 58.91%.

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.