Huntington National Bank Has $135,000 Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Huntington National Bank grew its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 95.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,571 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 769 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ALB. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $62,333,000 after purchasing an additional 264,756 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 13.3% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 5,099 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the third quarter worth approximately $1,127,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new position in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth $271,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its holdings in Albemarle by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 3,913 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ALB. Clarkson Capital began coverage on Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI cut shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.30.

Albemarle Stock Down 12.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $58.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.23 and a beta of 1.59. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $57.53 and a 12-month high of $137.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.15. 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 (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. Analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

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

About Albemarle

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.