Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Acquired by Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,258 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Albemarle worth $14,630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 149.3% during the third quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after acquiring an additional 8,420 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Albemarle by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,593 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 430.7% in the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 43,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,230,000 after purchasing an additional 34,994 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 80.3% during the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,359,000 after buying an additional 8,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 8.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $70,179,000 after buying an additional 33,662 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB traded up $2.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $128.10. 2,600,059 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,691,240. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 2.84. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $123.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $106.69 and a 12 month high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ALB. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen downgraded Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.85.

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.