Stiles Financial Services Inc Sells 260 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Stiles Financial Services Inc lowered its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,930 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 260 shares during the period. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Community Trust NA purchased a new position in Albemarle in the second quarter worth $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 610.0% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter worth $31,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 45.0% during the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 61.9% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $98.14 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $153.54. The company has a 50-day moving average of $93.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.56. The stock has a market cap of $11.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.13 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.55) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($1.24). The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.39 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -34.25%.

Albemarle Profile

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.