Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 476 Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC trimmed its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 8.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,483 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 476 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Assetmark Inc. boosted 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 during the period. Atria Investments Inc raised its holdings in Albemarle by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,575 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $480,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at $3,816,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 44.8% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 980 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 106,209 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $9,142,000 after buying an additional 34,051 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $74.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $60.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.75. Albemarle Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.43 and a 52 week high of $113.91. The company has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.69 and a beta of 1.63.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.92% and a negative net margin of 22.39%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Albemarle from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price target on Albemarle and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Three 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 MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $91.62.

Albemarle 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.