Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Decreases Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. cut its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 21.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,727 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 736 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canal Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 249.9% in the 4th quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 5,087 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $735,000 after acquiring an additional 3,633 shares during the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 4,322 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth about $904,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,078 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Trust increased its holdings in Albemarle by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Trust now owns 33,284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,809,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $122.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.47. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.69 and a fifty-two week high of $247.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $122.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.04. The company has a market capitalization of $14.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.19, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lowered Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $220.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.05.

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.