Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp lessened its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 66.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,059 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,069 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in Albemarle by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,230,955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $379,352,000 after buying an additional 131,930 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in 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. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in 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. boosted its position in 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, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Albemarle by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,188,914 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $202,163,000 after buying an additional 35,019 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. 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 research report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Albemarle in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.05.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE ALB opened at $116.88 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. The firm has a market cap of $13.74 billion, a PE ratio of 8.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.62. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $106.69 and a one year high of $247.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $122.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.76.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $8.62 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 11.99%.

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.