Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group Sells 2,021 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group cut its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,536 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,021 shares during the period. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,079,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $11,694,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 81.2% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 17,019 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 7,629 shares during the last quarter. Knuff & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 28,849 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,187 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 240.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 25,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,152,000 after acquiring an additional 17,655 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.05.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $72.84 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $83.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $91.61. The company has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a PE ratio of -6.50 and a beta of 1.70. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $67.23 and a 52-week high of $137.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.46%.

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.