Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by Excalibur Management Corp

Excalibur Management Corp cut its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,206 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 969 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,256,294,000 after purchasing an additional 359,014 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,741,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $258,797,000 after acquiring an additional 14,874 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,040,970 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $89,607,000 after acquiring an additional 20,380 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $85,570,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 741,484 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $63,827,000 after purchasing an additional 35,765 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of ALB opened at $77.73 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $81.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.05. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $67.23 and a 12-month high of $137.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.94 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Clarkson Capital started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.30.

Albemarle Company 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.