Kovack Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 458.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,378 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 6,878 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 11.1% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at about $323,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 125.3% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 874 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Albemarle by 47.7% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,509 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,487,000 after acquiring an additional 6,619 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB traded up $1.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $116.88. 1,723,562 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,343,544. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $122.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.00. The company has a market cap of $13.74 billion, a PE ratio of 8.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $106.69 and a 12-month high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS 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 business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $8.62 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ALB. Bank of America raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Berenberg Bank raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. Three research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.05.

Albemarle Company 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.