Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. Purchases 109 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 65.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 276 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $40,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Strategies LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 149.3% during the third quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 8,420 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised 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 acquiring an additional 14,593 shares in the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its stake in Albemarle by 430.7% during the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 43,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,230,000 after acquiring an additional 34,994 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 8,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 33,662 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ALB. 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 note on Friday, March 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group lowered 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. Berenberg Bank raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.85.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $119.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.99 billion, a PE ratio of 8.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.47. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.69 and a fifty-two week high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.32 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 2.88 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 11.99%.

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.