HM Payson & Co. Cuts Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

HM Payson & Co. lowered its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 18.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,050 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. USCF Advisers LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Albemarle by 2,942.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Corp IN purchased a new position in Albemarle in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Berenberg Bank lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $135.00 price target (down from $150.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $133.79.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock traded down $6.18 during trading on Friday, hitting $86.99. The stock had a trading volume of 5,807,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,879,290. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $82.25 and a twelve month high of $214.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $102.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

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.