Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Stock Position Reduced by Pathway Financial Advisers LLC

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC trimmed its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,069 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 173 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in Albemarle by 2.4% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,813,054 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $364,223,000 after acquiring an additional 87,970 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in Albemarle by 4.9% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,472,155 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $325,682,000 after acquiring an additional 116,284 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 176.6% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $209,333,000 after acquiring an additional 3,662,117 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 10.2% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,568,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $149,833,000 after acquiring an additional 144,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Albemarle by 2.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,311,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $125,264,000 after acquiring an additional 29,721 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $95.52 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.14. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $153.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.23 billion, a PE ratio of -20.19, 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 company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -34.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.30.

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.