Grandfield & Dodd LLC Purchases 26,352 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Grandfield & Dodd LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 228,202 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 26,352 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $21,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the second quarter worth about $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 610.0% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 61.9% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 2,142.1% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Baird R W lowered shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.47.

Albemarle Stock Up 2.3 %

ALB opened at $106.45 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $153.54. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $96.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.48. The company has a market cap of $12.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.36 and a beta of 1.55.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -9.67%.

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.