2,300 Shares in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Acquired by Symmetry Investments LP

Symmetry Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,300 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the first quarter valued at $25,000. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings 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 position in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on ALB shares. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report 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 research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.10.

Albemarle Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $86.03 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $177.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $86.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.72. The firm has a market cap of $10.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a PEG ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.33 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

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

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.