Krane Funds Advisors LLC Sells 5,925 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 27,747 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 5,925 shares during the quarter. Albemarle comprises 0.1% of Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,388,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in Albemarle by 606.5% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Community Trust NA grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.30.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $58.55 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a PE ratio of -5.23 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.17. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $55.13 and a 1-year high of $137.50.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. As a group, analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -14.46%.

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.