Captrust Financial Advisors Sells 353 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Captrust Financial Advisors cut its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,322 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 353 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Albemarle were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 340.6% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 48.9% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ALB shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Albemarle to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.62.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $59.29 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a PE ratio of -5.29 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $131.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.93 and a 200-day moving average of $81.32.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.57%.

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.