Charter Research & Investment Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Charter Research & Investment Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,850 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 787 shares during the quarter. Charter Research & Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALB. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 10,050.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in Albemarle by 74.5% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter valued at $36,000. CVA Family Office LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 7,257.1% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 515 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 84.1% in the 1st quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 670 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Up 6.2%

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $110.30 on Thursday. Albemarle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $113.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.31. The company has a market cap of $12.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.83 and a beta of 1.70. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $89.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.37.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.55) EPS. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -101.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Albemarle from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Albemarle from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their target price on Albemarle from $89.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn assumed coverage on Albemarle in a report on Friday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.71.

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.