Inspire Investing LLC Has $1.17 Million Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,550 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,166,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 27,241 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,602,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in Albemarle by 24.2% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 3,035 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Albemarle by 70.1% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,854 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Albemarle by 47.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 257,786 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $24,655,000 after acquiring an additional 82,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in Albemarle by 60.6% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 22,508 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after acquiring an additional 8,497 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB stock opened at $89.89 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.72. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $143.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.57 billion, a PE ratio of -5.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.58.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -9.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.65.

Insider Activity

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $255,328.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.