Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV Sells 100 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV decreased its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,347 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 39.0% during the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle during the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, City State Bank boosted its position in Albemarle by 60.0% during the third quarter. City State Bank now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB traded down $2.97 during trading on Thursday, hitting $111.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,249,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,310,665. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $106.69 and a 12-month high of $247.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.95.

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

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 11.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ALB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen downgraded Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.05.

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.