Sei Investments Co. Raises Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 531,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,687 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $45,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in Albemarle by 606.5% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. First Community Trust NA raised its holdings in Albemarle by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of ALB opened at $77.70 on Tuesday. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.23 and a fifty-two week high of $137.50. The company’s fifty day moving average is $81.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.04. The firm has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of -6.94 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. Analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors 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 2.09%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -14.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ALB. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.30.

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.