Marion Wealth Management Grows Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Marion Wealth Management increased its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 27.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,217 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 3,094 shares during the quarter. Marion Wealth Management’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter worth about $32,000. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 610.0% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $85.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Baird R W cut Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.60.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $100.14 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 twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $177.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $87.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.44. The company has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently 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.