Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 21,409 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 34.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 40,097 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 21,409 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Albemarle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,034,787,000 after buying an additional 82,874 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Albemarle by 128.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,022,420,000 after buying an additional 3,979,885 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $838,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396,624 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $749,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,476,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $502,310,000 after buying an additional 1,245,719 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $76.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $9.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 8.12 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $89.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.51. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $189.19.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALB. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Baird R W cut shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.10.

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.