Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd Decreases Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 78.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,187 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 54,850 shares during the period. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 82,874 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 128.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,022,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979,885 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Albemarle by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $838,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396,624 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.4% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,813,054 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $364,223,000 after buying an additional 87,970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 4.9% during the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,472,155 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $325,682,000 after buying an additional 116,284 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $88.71 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $177.52. The stock has a market cap of $10.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $86.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.39.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results 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). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.33 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently 58.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ALB. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. UBS Group cut their target price on Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.