Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. cut its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 24.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 364 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 119 shares during the period. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $53,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Fairfield Bush & CO. boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 5,565 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,231,000 after buying an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its stake in Albemarle by 17.5% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,377 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $968,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in Albemarle by 186.4% in the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,898 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 8,785 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in Albemarle by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,859 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $114.39 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $123.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.95. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.69 and a fifty-two week high of $247.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $8.62 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Vertical Research lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, March 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.05.

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.