City Holding Co. Grows Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

City Holding Co. raised its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 21.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,960 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the period. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 9,108.7% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 574,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,440,000 after purchasing an additional 568,563 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 38.2% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 282,194 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,333,000 after acquiring an additional 264,756 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 7,667.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 163,659 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $155,000,000 after acquiring an additional 161,552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 157,319 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB opened at $97.52 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.46 billion, a PE ratio of -5.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The business’s 50-day moving average is $97.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.80. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $143.19.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -9.67%.

Insider Activity at Albemarle

In other news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 2,525 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.12, for a total transaction of $255,328.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 73,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,457,296.64. This represents a 3.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ALB shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $79.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $115.65.

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.