Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Boosts Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 311,437 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,409 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $44,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 124,405.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 104,510,053 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $22,664,050,000 after purchasing an additional 104,426,113 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,661,001 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,021,130,000 after acquiring an additional 75,867 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.8% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,582,008 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,118,007,000 after acquiring an additional 260,087 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.3% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,364,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,188,408,000 after acquiring an additional 16,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.4% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,422,227 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $534,193,000 after acquiring an additional 57,094 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Down 5.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $114.11 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $123.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.62. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $106.69 and a 12-month high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 3.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Vertical Research cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.05.

Albemarle 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.