Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Lowers Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. decreased its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 16.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,843 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 956 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 299.8% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 63,684 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,482,000 after buying an additional 47,755 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 4,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 35,828 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,084,000 after buying an additional 5,384 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 78,864 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $6,789,000 after buying an additional 21,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 4,477.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 86,980 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $7,487,000 after buying an additional 85,080 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.30.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $79.29 on Tuesday. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $67.23 and a twelve month high of $137.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $82.47 and a 200-day moving average of $91.33. The firm has a market cap of $9.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.08 and a beta of 1.70.

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

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -14.46%.

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.