CWA Asset Management Group LLC Buys Shares of 2,133 Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,133 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Gold Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,258 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $120,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter worth $289,000. Lewis Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 58.7% in the third quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 6,337 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 2,344 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 3.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 135,194 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,804,000 after buying an additional 4,131 shares during the period. Finally, 1834 Investment Advisors Co. grew its position in Albemarle by 8.1% during the third quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 6,395 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $606,000 after buying an additional 479 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $114.47.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $108.19 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.58. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $153.54. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.46 and a beta of 1.55.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.67%.

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.