Intech Investment Management LLC Has $17.84 Million Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Intech Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 29.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 123,453 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 52,280 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Albemarle worth $17,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eagle Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 149.3% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 8,420 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $48,270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,593 shares during the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 430.7% during the 4th quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 43,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $6,230,000 after purchasing an additional 34,994 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 80.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,359,000 after buying an additional 8,799 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Albemarle by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $70,179,000 after buying an additional 33,662 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $157.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday. Vertical Research cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Berenberg Bank upgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.16.

Albemarle Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of ALB stock traded up $4.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $127.59. 1,445,741 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,437,929. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $124.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.93. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $106.69 and a 1-year high of $247.44. The company has a market cap of $15.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $10.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total value of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $626,882.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.38% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.