Access Financial Services Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Access Financial Services Inc. reduced its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,526 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 945 shares during the period. Access Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eagle Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 149.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 8,420 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,593 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 80.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,359,000 after purchasing an additional 8,799 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $70,179,000 after purchasing an additional 33,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gendell Jeffrey L acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at $6,802,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $131.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.69 and a fifty-two week high of $247.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $121.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $135.17. The company has a market cap of $15.48 billion, a PE ratio of 9.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.62 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 3.15 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 11.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ALB. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $140.00 to $128.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 5th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Vertical Research lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $176.70.

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.