Naples Global Advisors LLC Sells 3,309 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Naples Global Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 17.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,476 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,309 shares during the quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 10,050.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 7,257.1% in the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 515 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 36.8% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 536.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle by 248.0% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 689 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $189.56 on Friday. Albemarle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $191.97. The company has a market capitalization of $22.31 billion, a PE ratio of -119.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $143.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.27.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.10% and a negative net margin of 0.43%.The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.55) EPS. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is -101.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ALB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $152.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $152.48.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.