Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $63.83 Million Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 741,484 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,765 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned about 0.63% of Albemarle worth $63,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,660,000 after acquiring an additional 282,194 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 71.5% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,287,000 after buying an additional 6,234 shares during the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 28,824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,481,000 after buying an additional 4,899 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 28.5% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $40,067,000 after acquiring an additional 93,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,333,000 after acquiring an additional 264,756 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ALB shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI cut Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Clarkson Capital initiated coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $255,328.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB opened at $81.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $88.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.22. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $143.19. The company has a market capitalization of $9.54 billion, a PE ratio of -4.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.59.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 28.80% and a positive return on equity of 1.67%. Research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -1.55 EPS for the current year.

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.