Verus Capital Partners LLC Purchases 969 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 32.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,960 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 969 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at about $202,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,835 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter worth approximately $275,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 25.6% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 215,651 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,047,000 after buying an additional 43,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 14.9% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,379 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,104,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research 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. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.47.

Albemarle Stock Down 6.9 %

NYSE:ALB opened at $102.90 on Wednesday. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $153.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $12.09 billion, a PE ratio of -6.14 and a beta of 1.55. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.15.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is -9.67%.

About Albemarle

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.