Securian Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,407 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 959 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 9,091 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 1,858 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 5,989 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.8% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 15,588 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,650,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 277.1% during the third quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 4,525 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 3,325 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.16.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $126.68 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.84 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.69 and a 1 year high of $247.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $124.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.87. The stock has a market cap of $14.89 billion, a PE ratio of 46.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.65.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $10.32 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 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.