CX Institutional Takes $93,000 Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

CX Institutional acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,287 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ALB. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Albemarle from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.62.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $60.94 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.44 and a beta of 1.61. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $49.43 and a 52-week high of $113.91. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.90.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -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.