Intact Investment Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Intact Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,600 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in Albemarle by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,230,955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $379,352,000 after purchasing an additional 131,930 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 10.3% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,570,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $267,117,000 after acquiring an additional 146,450 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,555,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $224,802,000 after acquiring an additional 174,391 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 14.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,221,765 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $207,749,000 after acquiring an additional 151,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,188,914 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $202,163,000 after acquiring an additional 35,019 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the subject of several research reports. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Three research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.05.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE ALB traded up $1.90 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $116.88. 1,723,562 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,343,544. The company has a market cap of $13.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.62. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $106.69 and a 12-month high of $247.44. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $122.79 and a 200 day moving average of $127.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued 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. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $8.62 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.99%.

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.