Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lessened its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,681 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,097 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,569,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ALB. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,078 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 348,544 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,917,000 after acquiring an additional 6,425 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth $262,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,190 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 1st quarter worth $312,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of ALB opened at $96.65 on Wednesday. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $153.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.33 earnings per share. Albemarle’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -34.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on ALB shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Berenberg Bank downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.30.

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.