Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 109,389 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 876 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Albemarle worth $24,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in Albemarle by 51.2% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 15,300.0% during the 2nd quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 154 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 87.0% in the 2nd quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 172 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 68.0% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 173 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on ALB shares. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $344.00 to $308.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on Albemarle from $225.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Credit Suisse Group increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $163.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Bank of America lowered Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $212.00 to $161.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $265.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kristin M. Coleman acquired 1,373 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $121.86 per share, for a total transaction of $167,313.78. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $334,627.56. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $130.36 on Tuesday. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $112.00 and a 1 year high of $293.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.81. The company’s fifty day moving average is $149.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $188.04.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.96). The firm had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 33.63% and a return on equity of 36.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 21.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.67%.

Albemarle Profile

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Lithium, Bromine, and Catalysts. The Lithium segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, lithium chloride, and lithium specialties and reagents, such as butyllithium and lithium aluminum hydride for use in lithium batteries for consumer electronics and electric vehicles, high performance greases, thermoplastic elastomers for car tires, rubber soles, plastic bottles, catalysts for chemical reactions, organic synthesis processes in the areas of steroid chemistry and vitamins, life sciences, pharmaceutical industry, and other markets.