New York Life Investment Management LLC Purchases 105 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,298 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kingfisher Capital LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 14,117 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 14.1% in the third quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 688 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 5.8% during the third quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Regatta Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Finally, USCF Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America raised shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.85.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $128.10 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $123.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.23. The company has a market capitalization of $15.06 billion, a PE ratio of 46.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.69 and a 1 year high of $247.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 2.84.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $10.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.18%.

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.