River Street Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

River Street Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 16.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,390 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the quarter. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the second quarter worth about $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 61.9% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 2,142.1% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ALB shares. Baird R W lowered shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.47.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB traded up $1.43 on Friday, reaching $103.53. The stock had a trading volume of 2,498,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,971,724. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $95.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.06. The company has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.18 and a beta of 1.55. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $153.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -9.67%.

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.