Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 30.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,447 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 9,057 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 16.1% in the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 92,939 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,693,000 after purchasing an additional 12,896 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Albemarle by 3.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 184,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,282,000 after buying an additional 6,487 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter worth $271,000. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 7.7% in the first quarter. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC now owns 70,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,041,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Albemarle by 10.9% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 24,945 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,797,000 after buying an additional 2,446 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $77.11 on Tuesday. 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 Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.43 and a 52 week high of $113.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.07 billion, a PE ratio of -6.93 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $62.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $69.89.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -14.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Albemarle from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen raised Albemarle to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Albemarle from $95.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.00.

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.