Korea Investment CORP Decreases Holdings in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Korea Investment CORP cut its stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 87.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,407 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 39,363 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 10,050.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 7,257.1% in the second 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 in the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 74.5% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 248.0% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 689 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $128.29 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $101.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.69. Albemarle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $132.90. The firm has a market cap of $15.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -80.69 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.55) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -101.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Albemarle from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Monday. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Dbs Bank lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $102.63.

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.