KCM Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 555 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,396 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 555 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at $202,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 14.9% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,379 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.2% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 126,637 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $16,683,000 after purchasing an additional 2,712 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 40.2% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,645 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Berenberg Bank cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.47.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $103.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.18 and a beta of 1.55. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $153.54. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -9.67%.

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.