Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Bought by Legacy Capital Group California Inc.

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 69.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,043 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2,942.9% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ALB. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Baird R W lowered shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.60.

Albemarle Stock Up 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE ALB traded up $3.68 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $87.90. 2,263,638 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,127,329. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $203.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $92.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.11.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.33 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.91%.

Albemarle 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.