Knuff & Co LLC Increases Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Knuff & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,849 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 268 shares during the quarter. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Albemarle by 1,400.0% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 340.6% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in Albemarle by 606.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. First Community Trust NA lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ALB shares. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.05.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $72.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $83.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of -6.49 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $67.23 and a 12-month high of $137.50.

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 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.46%.

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.