Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Sells 140 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC cut its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 140 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 980 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in Albemarle by 204.1% in the fourth quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 22,212 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,913,000 after buying an additional 14,907 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 34,444 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,965,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 5,025 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 65,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $5,595,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their target price 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. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.05.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $76.40 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $67.23 and a 12-month high of $137.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $83.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.82 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.46%.

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.