Moran Wealth Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Moran Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 14.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,669 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,342 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $660,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $85,570,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% during 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 67.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $62,333,000 after purchasing an additional 264,756 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $66,839,000 after purchasing an additional 157,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,067,000 after purchasing an additional 93,718 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their price target on Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Clarkson Capital initiated coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.05.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:ALB opened at $72.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.50 and a beta of 1.70. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $67.23 and a 1 year high of $137.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $83.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.46%.

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.