Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV Reduces Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV reduced its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,347 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $339,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in Albemarle by 3.4% in the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 51.2% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.0% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 5,212 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,378,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.4% during the first quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,593 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 15th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.05.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB traded down $2.97 on Thursday, reaching $111.42. 1,249,639 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,310,665. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.69 and a fifty-two week high of $247.44. The company’s 50 day moving average is $123.17 and its 200-day moving average is $129.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.10 billion, a PE ratio of 8.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $8.62 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

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

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.