Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Sells 104,317 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC cut its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 731,489 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 104,317 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $59,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALB. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 25.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,798 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at $208,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth $411,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 10,050.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE ALB opened at $161.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.43. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $206.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business’s fifty day moving average is $168.64 and its 200 day moving average is $125.68.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 10.74% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($1.09) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -28.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ALB. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $210.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Evercore lifted their price target on Albemarle from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Albemarle from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.24.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.