Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by John G Ullman & Associates Inc.

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 47.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,075 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 7,150 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fairfield Bush & CO. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 5,565 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $968,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in Albemarle by 186.4% during the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,898 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Albemarle by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,859 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.3 %

Albemarle stock opened at $112.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.62. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $123.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.47. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $106.69 and a 52 week high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $8.62 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 11.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.05.

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.