Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 36,949 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,223 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 36,949 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.08% of Albemarle worth $20,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ALB. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in Albemarle by 3.4% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 51.2% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 5,212 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,378,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.8% in the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 6,651 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, EVP Kristin M. Coleman acquired 1,373 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $121.86 per share, with a total value of $167,313.78. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 2,746 shares in the company, valued at $334,627.56. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ALB. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $265.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 7th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $225.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Piper Sandler cut shares of Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $155.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $260.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 9th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $254.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.50.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $130.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $15.30 billion, a PE ratio of 4.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.67. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.00 and a fifty-two week high of $293.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $149.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.74 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.70 by ($0.96). The business had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 33.63% and a return on equity of 36.09%. Albemarle’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.50 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 21.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

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