Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Sold by Cozad Asset Management Inc.

Cozad Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 52.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,459 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 18,276 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,378,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kingfisher Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Kingfisher Capital LLC now owns 14,117 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 14.1% in the third quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 688 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 5.8% during the third quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 1,541 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Regatta Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USCF Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Berenberg Bank raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Albemarle in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.05.

Albemarle Trading Down 4.3 %

NYSE:ALB opened at $120.31 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.69 and a 52-week high of $247.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $122.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.18. The company has a market capitalization of $14.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $8.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.99%.

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.