Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Lowers Holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC decreased its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 9.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,240 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,115 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2,151.9% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 60,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,234,000 after purchasing an additional 58,100 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 5,575 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 6,393.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 152,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $10,975,000 after buying an additional 150,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Himension Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 50.7% during the fourth quarter. Himension Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. now owns 220,834 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $19,009,000 after buying an additional 74,322 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $67.39 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $59.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.49. Albemarle Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.43 and a 52 week high of $113.91. The company has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a PE ratio of -6.06 and a beta of 1.63.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) EPS 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 firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.62.

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.