Yousif Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,582 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 922 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $7,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new position in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 21,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 215 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 147.2% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 262 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Berenberg Bank upgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Bank of America upgraded Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.05.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $113.55 on Thursday. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.69 and a fifty-two week high of $247.44. The firm has a market cap of $13.35 billion, a PE ratio of 8.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.62. The business’s fifty day moving average is $122.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $8.62 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 11.99%.

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.