Kingfisher Capital LLC Trims Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Kingfisher Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,103 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 651 shares during the period. Kingfisher Capital LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 77.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 257 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 10,667 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,541,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 158,926 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $22,946,000 after purchasing an additional 32,748 shares during the period. Finally, IPG Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $376,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $90.50 on Wednesday. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $177.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $86.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.33 earnings per share. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Baird R W lowered Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.10.

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.