Community Bank N.A. Trims Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Community Bank N.A. reduced its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,340 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 290 shares during the quarter. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management purchased a new position in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 21,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 215 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 147.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ALB shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Vertical Research lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.05.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB traded down $0.74 on Thursday, reaching $114.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 896,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,230,738. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.62. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.36. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $106.69 and a 12-month high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.62 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 11.99%.

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.