Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Sells 891 Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC cut its stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 21.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,296 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 891 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 62.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 471 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Albemarle from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.62.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $67.39 on Friday. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $113.91. The firm has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.06 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $60.06 and a 200 day moving average of $71.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 22.39% and a negative return on equity of 1.92%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -14.57%.

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.