Knuff & Co LLC Sells 6,656 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Knuff & Co LLC cut its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 18.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,581 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 6,656 shares during the quarter. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,707,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the first quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 40.2% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,645 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 40.6% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 1,973 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its position in Albemarle by 544.9% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 9,151 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after buying an additional 7,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 116.1% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,759 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB opened at $104.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $96.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.64. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $153.54. The stock has a market cap of $12.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.21 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -9.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their target price on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.47.

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.