Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Sells 25,611 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC reduced its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 663,917 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 25,611 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $57,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 50.4% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Albemarle by 48.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. First Community Trust NA raised its holdings in Albemarle by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,908 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $336,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 4,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ALB. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.30.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $72.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a PE ratio of -6.45 and a beta of 1.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.87. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $67.23 and a 1-year high of $137.50.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. As a group, analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -14.46%.

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.