Stiles Financial Services Inc Has $1.04 Million Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Stiles Financial Services Inc lowered its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,930 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 260 shares during the quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 176.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $209,333,000 after purchasing an additional 3,662,117 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 9,108.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 574,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,440,000 after purchasing an additional 568,563 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth about $49,007,000. PGGM Investments grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 261.6% during the 1st quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 413,492 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,473,000 after buying an additional 299,148 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 115.7% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 542,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,791,000 after buying an additional 290,862 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ALB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup cut their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $98.14 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $153.54. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $11.53 billion, a PE ratio of -21.13 and a beta of 1.55. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $93.14 and a 200-day moving average of $100.56.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.55) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($1.24). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.39 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -34.25%.

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.