Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich cut its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,243 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 194 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eagle Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 149.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Albemarle by 5.4% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,270,000 after buying an additional 14,593 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 80.3% during the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,359,000 after buying an additional 8,799 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 8.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $70,179,000 after buying an additional 33,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 235.9% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 12,107 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after buying an additional 8,503 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.05.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $116.88 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $122.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $106.69 and a 1-year high of $247.44. The company has a market cap of $13.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $8.62 EPS. Albemarle’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 11.99%.

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.