Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Buys 796 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 353.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,021 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 796 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 142.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,043,861 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $177,499,000 after acquiring an additional 612,963 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 15,046.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 347,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $502,450,000 after acquiring an additional 345,467 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,555,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $224,802,000 after acquiring an additional 174,391 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 14.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,221,765 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $207,749,000 after acquiring an additional 151,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 10.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,570,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $267,117,000 after acquiring an additional 146,450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.9 %

Albemarle stock opened at $115.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.55 billion, a PE ratio of 8.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.62. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $106.69 and a 12 month high of $247.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.36. 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 (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The business’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 11.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ALB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.05.

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.