Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $14.13 Million Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 164,181 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,504 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $14,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 48.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. First Community Trust NA raised its stake in Albemarle by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,908 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 4,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in Albemarle by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,982 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Albemarle from $77.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.24.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $60.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.38 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $66.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $84.29. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $137.50.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.18 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -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.