KCM Investment Advisors LLC Has $770,000 Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 33.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 4,448 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Albemarle by 340.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its stake in Albemarle by 606.5% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Community Trust NA boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Down 12.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $58.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a PE ratio of -5.23 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $57.53 and a 12-month high of $137.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $77.46 and a 200-day moving average of $90.15.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is -14.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.30.

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.