Daymark Wealth Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Daymark Wealth Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 257 shares during the quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $265,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank raised its holdings in Albemarle by 0.5% in the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Foster Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 4.1% during the second quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Albemarle by 3.3% in the first quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,309 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $568,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $102.02 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $177.52.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly 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). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.33 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -34.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho dropped their price target on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.60.

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.