US Bancorp DE Trims Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

US Bancorp DE lessened its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 562,443 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 94,171 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $53,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 176.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $209,333,000 after purchasing an additional 3,662,117 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 9,108.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 574,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,440,000 after buying an additional 568,563 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter valued at $49,007,000. PGGM Investments raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 261.6% in the first quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 413,492 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,473,000 after acquiring an additional 299,148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 115.7% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 542,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,791,000 after acquiring an additional 290,862 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Baird R W lowered Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.30.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE ALB opened at $94.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $11.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.03, a PEG ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $92.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.10. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $153.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -34.25%.

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.