Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Bought by Mather Group LLC.

Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 302.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,653 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,498 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. First Community Trust NA bought a new stake in Albemarle during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.1 %

Albemarle stock opened at $103.00 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.67 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 $177.52. The stock has a market cap of $12.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.45, a P/E/G ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly 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). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 58.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird cut Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $85.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.60.

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.