Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $599,000 Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 55.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,953 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,480 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Albemarle by 48.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. First Community Trust NA raised its position in Albemarle by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,908 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 4,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Albemarle by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,982 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ALB shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Albemarle from $122.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.05.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:ALB opened at $52.88 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $71.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.49. The company has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.72 and a beta of 1.59. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $49.43 and a 52-week high of $137.50. 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 (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. On average, analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.46%.

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.