Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Holdings Lifted by Orion Capital Management LLC

Orion Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 5,714.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 407 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Orion Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $59,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALB. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 142.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,043,861 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $177,499,000 after purchasing an additional 612,963 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 15,046.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 347,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $502,450,000 after purchasing an additional 345,467 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 4,471.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 332,100 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $47,982,000 after purchasing an additional 324,836 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 12.6% in the 4th 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. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 14.1% in the 3rd 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. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB opened at $119.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $122.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.27). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.32 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALB. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Bank of America raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.85.

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.