HM Payson & Co. Sells 500 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

HM Payson & Co. lowered its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,230 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 239.7% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,138,000 after purchasing an additional 37,958 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 190,526 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,100,000 after acquiring an additional 35,003 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 392.6% during the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 7,916 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $756,000 after acquiring an additional 6,309 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 32.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 521,537 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,395,000 after acquiring an additional 127,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at about $202,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Hsbc Global Res raised Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. HSBC downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.30.

Albemarle Stock Up 3.7 %

ALB stock opened at $98.24 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $153.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.55 billion, a PE ratio of -20.77 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.94.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -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.