Raymond James & Associates Lowers Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Raymond James & Associates cut its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 106,753 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 28,523 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.09% of Albemarle worth $10,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,034,787,000 after purchasing an additional 82,874 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Albemarle by 128.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,022,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,979,885 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $838,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396,624 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $749,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,476,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $502,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245,719 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. HSBC lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.60.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB opened at $90.50 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.61. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $203.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.91%.

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.