New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Invests $5.13 Million in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 59,635 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,133,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC owned about 0.05% of Albemarle as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth about $39,405,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 28.4% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 5,612 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in Albemarle by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 19,880 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,711,000 after buying an additional 1,334 shares in the last quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,325,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 242,716 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $21,308,000 after acquiring an additional 9,967 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALB. Mizuho lowered their price target on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.30.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $72.21 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a PE ratio of -6.45 and a beta of 1.70. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $67.23 and a 12 month high of $137.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $79.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.78. 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 (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -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.