Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Increases Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. increased its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 33.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 10,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,535 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,296 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 75.8% during the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,038 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,217,000 after purchasing an additional 5,620 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 72.3% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 305 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter worth about $435,000. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter worth about $213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Albemarle stock traded up $1.88 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $114.17. 1,779,584 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,273,945. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $13.42 billion, a PE ratio of 8.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $122.89 and a 200-day moving average of $128.77. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $106.69 and a 12 month high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. TD Cowen downgraded Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.05.

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.