Virtu Financial LLC Purchases New Shares in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 40,837 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,515,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 340.6% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. First Community Trust NA lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.30.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $77.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.23 and a fifty-two week high of $137.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $81.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.98. The company has a market cap of $9.12 billion, a PE ratio of -6.93 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is -14.46%.

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.