Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 7,629 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 81.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,019 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 7,629 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Knuff & Co LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 28,849 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,187 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 240.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 25,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,152,000 after purchasing an additional 17,655 shares in the last quarter. Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,058,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Albemarle by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,901 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Clarkson Capital started coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.30.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $78.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.01 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.25. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $67.23 and a 1-year high of $137.50.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -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.