Quantbot Technologies LP Has $1.57 Million Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 800.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,617 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,772 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,574,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Albemarle by 1.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 162,386 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $21,394,000 after buying an additional 2,309 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 206.9% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 55,508 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,312,000 after acquiring an additional 37,423 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,045 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the period. Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 30,912 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,072,000 after purchasing an additional 3,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter worth $12,571,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ALB. Baird R W cut shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.47.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $107.70 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $99.38 and a 200-day moving average of $98.82. The company has a market capitalization of $12.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.43 and a beta of 1.55. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $153.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -9.67%.

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.