Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Has $5.04 Million Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,262 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $5,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Teza Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 228.7% in the 3rd quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 4,447 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 3,094 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,244 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 14,260 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,424,000 after purchasing an additional 4,130 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 35.4% in the 3rd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 74,449 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,659,000 after purchasing an additional 19,479 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,457 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,628,000 after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ALB shares. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $122.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares in the company, valued at $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $97.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $116.86 and a 200-day moving average of $122.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $92.29 and a 12 month high of $247.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $10.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.18%.

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.