M&T Bank Corp Purchases 2,788 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

M&T Bank Corp boosted its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,866 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,788 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP grew its position in Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Albemarle by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its position in Albemarle by 606.5% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ALB shares. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.05.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of ALB stock opened at $75.57 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.75 and a beta of 1.70. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $67.23 and a 52 week high of $137.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $83.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.91.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. Analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -14.46%.

Albemarle Company 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.