Swiss National Bank Sells 16,000 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Swiss National Bank cut its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 332,006 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 16,000 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.28% of Albemarle worth $28,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in Albemarle by 0.5% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,833,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $363,117,000 after acquiring an additional 20,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,741,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $258,797,000 after purchasing an additional 14,874 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,040,970 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,607,000 after purchasing an additional 20,380 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $85,570,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 741,484 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $63,827,000 after purchasing an additional 35,765 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $79.29 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $82.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.33. 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 $67.23 and a fifty-two week high of $137.50. The company has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a PE ratio of -7.08 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.30.

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.