Bangor Savings Bank Cuts Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Bangor Savings Bank cut its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 93.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 12,710 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $83,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.3% during the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,309 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on ALB. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.60.

Albemarle Stock Down 4.0 %

ALB opened at $100.26 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $87.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.29. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $177.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.46, a PEG ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date 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.