Larson Financial Group LLC Increases Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 44.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 980 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $84,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 340.6% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 606.5% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. First Community Trust NA grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ALB shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.05.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $72.84 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $67.23 and a 1-year high of $137.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.50 and a beta of 1.70. The company’s 50-day moving average is $83.20 and its 200 day moving average is $91.61.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. Research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.46%.

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.