Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp reduced its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 27.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,711 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 20,738 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $7,760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Eagle Strategies LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 149.3% during the third quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after acquiring an additional 8,420 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Albemarle by 5.4% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,270,000 after acquiring an additional 14,593 shares during the period. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its position in Albemarle by 430.7% during the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 43,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,230,000 after acquiring an additional 34,994 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 80.3% during the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,359,000 after acquiring an additional 8,799 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Albemarle by 8.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $70,179,000 after acquiring an additional 33,662 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of ALB stock opened at $128.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $15.06 billion, a PE ratio of 46.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $123.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.81. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $106.69 and a 1-year high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.38% and a net margin of 4.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $10.32 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.85.

Albemarle Company 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.