U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 932 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 23.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,966 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 932 shares during the quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $429,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ALB. Eagle Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 149.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 8,420 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5.4% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,270,000 after buying an additional 14,593 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 430.7% in the fourth quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 43,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,230,000 after buying an additional 34,994 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 80.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,359,000 after acquiring an additional 8,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $70,179,000 after acquiring an additional 33,662 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $130.78 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $123.45 and its 200 day moving average is $125.95. The company has a market capitalization of $15.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.56, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $106.69 and a twelve month high of $247.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. Albemarle’s revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $10.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ALB. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Albemarle from $138.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Vertical Research cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. TD Cowen cut shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.80.

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.