Federated Hermes Inc. Has $11.48 Million Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 52.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 79,447 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 86,020 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $11,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 142.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,043,861 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $177,499,000 after buying an additional 612,963 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 15,046.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 347,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $502,450,000 after buying an additional 345,467 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,555,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $224,802,000 after buying an additional 174,391 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,221,765 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $207,749,000 after buying an additional 151,158 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,570,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $267,117,000 after buying an additional 146,450 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $114.17 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $122.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $106.69 and a one year high of $247.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.42 billion, a PE ratio of 8.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.62 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 11.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ALB. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 15th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.