Access Financial Services Inc. Sells 945 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Access Financial Services Inc. reduced its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 21.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,526 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 945 shares during the quarter. Access Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $509,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Strategies LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 149.3% during the third quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after acquiring an additional 8,420 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 5.4% in the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,593 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 80.3% in the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,359,000 after purchasing an additional 8,799 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 8.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $70,179,000 after purchasing an additional 33,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gendell Jeffrey L acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at $6,802,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $131.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.62. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $106.69 and a 52 week high of $247.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $121.04 and a 200-day moving average of $135.17.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $8.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $149.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $176.70.

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.