Cynosure Group LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Cynosure Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 42.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,113 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,018 shares during the period. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $390,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 239.7% during 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 period. Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $66,839,000 after purchasing an additional 157,319 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 392.6% in the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 7,916 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 6,309 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 32.4% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 521,537 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,395,000 after buying an additional 127,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 38.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,660,000 after acquiring an additional 282,194 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $107.95 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.44 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $98.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.69. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $153.54.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -9.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Berenberg Bank cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.47.

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.