US Bancorp DE Sells 94,171 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

US Bancorp DE cut its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 14.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 562,443 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 94,171 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE owned approximately 0.48% of Albemarle worth $53,269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 176.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $209,333,000 after purchasing an additional 3,662,117 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 9,108.7% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 574,805 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,440,000 after acquiring an additional 568,563 shares during the period. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at about $49,007,000. PGGM Investments boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 261.6% in the first quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 413,492 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,473,000 after acquiring an additional 299,148 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 115.7% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 542,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,791,000 after purchasing an additional 290,862 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ALB. Bank of America lowered their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. HSBC downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.30.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $94.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $11.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.03, a PEG ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $153.54. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $92.20 and its 200 day moving average is $101.10.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -34.25%.

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.