Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC Sells 235 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC trimmed its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 9.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,256 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 235 shares during the period. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,407 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $142,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,248 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $180,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 2,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its position in Albemarle by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 1,751 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ALB shares. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup cut their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.10.

Albemarle Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $89.35 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market cap of $10.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.49, a P/E/G ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $183.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $87.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.71.

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). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. This is a positive change 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%.

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.