Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Buys 188 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,355 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 188 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 62.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 471 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $59.85 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $118.80. The firm has a market cap of $7.04 billion, a PE ratio of -5.34 and a beta of 1.61. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $57.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.81.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ALB. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.62.

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.