HM Payson & Co. Has $401,000 Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

HM Payson & Co. reduced its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,230 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. First Community Trust NA acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 610.0% during the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 61.9% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 2,142.1% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ALB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.30.

Albemarle Stock Up 3.7 %

Shares of ALB opened at $98.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.55 billion, a PE ratio of -20.77 and a beta of 1.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $92.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $153.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -34.25%.

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.