Xponance Inc. Purchases 793 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Xponance Inc. grew its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,208 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 793 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 50.4% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 48.9% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 414 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. First Community Trust NA lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,908 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.3% during the 4th 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE ALB opened at $77.57 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $81.70 and a 200-day moving average of $91.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.93 and a beta of 1.70. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $67.23 and a 52 week high of $137.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on ALB shares. Clarkson Capital started coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI downgraded Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup cut their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.30.

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.