Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Has $414,000 Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,863 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $414,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kingfisher Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% in the third quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 14,117 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,401,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. USCF Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Innovis Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Innovis Asset Management LLC now owns 15,540 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,642,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group reduced their target price on 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 upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America raised shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.05.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.9 %

ALB stock opened at $130.40 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $15.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $106.69 and a 1-year high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $10.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 2.86 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

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.