Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Bought by Blume Capital Management Inc.

Blume Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 1,504.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,138 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,693 shares during the period. Blume Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,031,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ALB. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 26,457 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,499,000 after buying an additional 774 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in Albemarle by 2.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 110,918 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,860,000 after acquiring an additional 3,113 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 16.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 74,045 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,591,000 after purchasing an additional 10,623 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 49.7% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 3,463 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,277 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB traded up $1.66 on Thursday, hitting $132.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 546,471 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,162,365. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $123.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $125.93. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $106.69 and a one year high of $247.44. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $10.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 58.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target 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. TD Cowen lowered shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Albemarle from $138.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.05.

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.