OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Boosts Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 19.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,820 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 795 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 135,194 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,804,000 after purchasing an additional 4,131 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $310,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 42.4% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,552 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth about $220,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in Albemarle by 606.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $92.43.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $60.15 on Monday. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $131.00. The company has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.37 and a beta of 1.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $63.20 and a 200 day moving average of $81.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.57%.

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.