Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Bought by SteelPeak Wealth LLC

SteelPeak Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 146.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,514 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,136 shares during the period. SteelPeak Wealth LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at $269,000. Evermay Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter valued at $62,000. Sicart Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 67,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,466,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. True Link Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, abrdn plc lifted its stake in Albemarle by 0.3% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 42,529 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,031,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $96.44. 536,804 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,979,944. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $91.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $153.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The company’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is -34.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ALB shares. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.30.

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.