Assetmark Inc. Raises Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 340.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 235 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $26,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $85,570,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,660,000 after buying an additional 282,194 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 67.3% during the third 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. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Albemarle by 28.5% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,067,000 after purchasing an additional 93,718 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 596,537 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,350,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $75.41 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.87 billion, a PE ratio of -6.73 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $67.23 and a twelve month high of $137.50.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ALB shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.30.

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.