Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Cuts Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 51.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,006 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 121,015 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned 0.10% of Albemarle worth $9,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 340.6% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in Albemarle by 606.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. First Community Trust NA grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ALB. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Clarkson Capital assumed coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI downgraded Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.30.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $79.70 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $82.09 and its 200 day moving average is $91.17. The stock has a market cap of $9.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.12 and a beta of 1.70. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $67.23 and a 52-week high of $137.50.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. Sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently -14.46%.

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.