Townsquare Capital LLC Cuts Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Townsquare Capital LLC lowered its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,546 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,473 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 9,108.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 574,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,440,000 after acquiring an additional 568,563 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 115.7% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 542,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,791,000 after acquiring an additional 290,862 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Albemarle by 38.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,660,000 after purchasing an additional 282,194 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $62,333,000 after buying an additional 264,756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 7,667.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 163,659 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $155,000,000 after buying an additional 161,552 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB stock opened at $111.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $153.54. The company has a market cap of $13.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.64 and a beta of 1.55. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $99.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.19.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.47.

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.