SYM FINANCIAL Corp Purchases 368 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 30.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,583 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in Albemarle by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,230,955 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $379,352,000 after buying an additional 131,930 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 10.3% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,570,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $267,117,000 after purchasing an additional 146,450 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,555,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $224,802,000 after purchasing an additional 174,391 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Albemarle by 14.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,221,765 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $207,749,000 after purchasing an additional 151,158 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Albemarle by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,188,914 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $202,163,000 after purchasing an additional 35,019 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ALB shares. Vertical Research lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.85.

Albemarle Stock Up 2.2 %

NYSE:ALB traded up $2.80 on Friday, hitting $128.10. The stock had a trading volume of 2,600,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,691,240. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $106.69 and a 52 week high of $247.44. The business’s fifty day moving average is $123.26 and its 200 day moving average is $126.54. The company has a market cap of $15.06 billion, a PE ratio of 46.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.65.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently 58.18%.

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.