Cerity Partners LLC Trims Stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

Cerity Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 30.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,447 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 9,057 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alps Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 16.1% in the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 92,939 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,693,000 after purchasing an additional 12,896 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Albemarle by 3.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 184,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,282,000 after purchasing an additional 6,487 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 7.7% in the first quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 70,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,041,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its position in Albemarle by 10.9% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 24,945 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,797,000 after acquiring an additional 2,446 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $77.11 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.43 and a 12 month high of $113.91. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.89. The stock has a market cap of $9.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.93 and a beta of 1.63.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 22.39% and a negative return on equity of 1.92%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently -14.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ALB. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Mizuho set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albemarle to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $91.00.

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.