GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 2,080 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 36.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,623 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,080 shares during the quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Albemarle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,903,000. PGGM Investments increased its stake in Albemarle by 90.4% in the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,069,924 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $67,052,000 after acquiring an additional 507,975 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,836,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Albemarle by 28.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $110,814,000 after acquiring an additional 343,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 55.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 959,978 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,162,000 after acquiring an additional 342,321 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ALB. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Albemarle from $74.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Albemarle from $80.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Albemarle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.13.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $96.45 on Tuesday. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $113.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.35 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -17.38%.

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.