IFP Advisors Inc Purchases 4,247 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 91.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,882 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,247 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $768,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $85,570,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Albemarle by 38.2% in 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. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 67.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $62,333,000 after acquiring an additional 264,756 shares in the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% during the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 705,719 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $66,839,000 after purchasing an additional 157,319 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.5% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $40,067,000 after purchasing an additional 93,718 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.68.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $78.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.05 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $85.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.01. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $143.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.46%.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total value of $255,328.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares in the company, valued at $7,457,296.64. The trade was a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.