Moody National Bank Trust Division Has $269,000 Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 10.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 347 shares during the quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Albemarle by 71.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 6,234 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in Albemarle by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 57,392 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $4,940,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,619 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 172.1% in the fourth quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,405 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $554,000 after purchasing an additional 4,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Albemarle by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,053 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of ALB stock opened at $55.76 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.98 and a beta of 1.71. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $124.84.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 target price on Albemarle and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $91.62.

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.