Securian Asset Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,199 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Albemarle by 340.6% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. First Community Trust NA lifted its stake in Albemarle by 55.0% in the 4th quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.30.

Albemarle Trading Up 5.4 %

NYSE:ALB opened at $79.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.08 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $82.47 and a 200 day moving average of $91.33. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $67.23 and a 52 week high of $137.50.

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 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.