Ellerson Group Inc. ADV Sells 9,422 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Ellerson Group Inc. ADV lessened its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 82.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,043 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 9,422 shares during the period. Ellerson Group Inc. ADV’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Albemarle Trading Up 2.2 %

NYSE ALB traded up $2.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $128.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,600,059 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,691,240. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $123.26 and a 200 day moving average of $126.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $106.69 and a twelve month high of $247.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.58, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.65.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a return on equity of 14.53% and a net margin of 4.02%. The company had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $10.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Berenberg Bank upgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.85.

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.