Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 1,591 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,437 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,591 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALB. KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 30.4% in the second quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,248 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after purchasing an additional 2,852 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Albemarle by 3.3% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 60,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,806,000 after acquiring an additional 1,920 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 5.1% during the second quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,242 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $593,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 57.4% during the 2nd quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,064 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 90.3% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 48,324 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,616,000 after acquiring an additional 22,924 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ALB. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Hsbc Global Res raised Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Two equities 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.10.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $94.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a PE ratio of 34.29, a PEG ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $86.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.06. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $177.52.

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

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 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 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.91%.

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.