Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4,471.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 332,100 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 324,836 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.28% of Albemarle worth $47,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in Albemarle during the third quarter worth about $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management bought a new position in Albemarle during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 21,400.0% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 215 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen lowered shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.05.

Albemarle Trading Down 4.3 %

NYSE:ALB traded down $5.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $120.31. 1,103,798 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,200,786. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $122.85 and a 200 day moving average of $127.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.43, a PEG 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.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $8.62 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 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.