Kingfisher Capital LLC Sells 2,841 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Kingfisher Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,262 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,841 shares during the period. Kingfisher Capital LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,833,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $363,117,000 after acquiring an additional 20,930 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,568,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $149,833,000 after purchasing an additional 144,705 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Albemarle by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,311,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $125,264,000 after purchasing an additional 29,721 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 11.9% in the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,198,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,503,000 after purchasing an additional 127,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 38.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 282,194 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $107.98 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.45 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.76. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $153.54.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is -9.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ALB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Baird R W cut shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.47.

Albemarle Company 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.