Independent Advisor Alliance Sells 1,430 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Independent Advisor Alliance reduced its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,120 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,430 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ALB. Quarry LP increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 340.6% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in Albemarle by 606.5% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. First Community Trust NA raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% during the 4th 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. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $75.41 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $82.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.39. The company has a market capitalization of $8.87 billion, a PE ratio of -6.73 and a beta of 1.70. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.23 and a fifty-two week high of $137.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.30.

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.