Sava Infond d.o.o. Acquires Shares of 27,010 Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Sava Infond d.o.o. purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 27,010 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,325,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Albemarle by 38.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,660,000 after buying an additional 282,194 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 33,509 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,174,000 after purchasing an additional 6,607 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 21,810 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,066,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in Albemarle by 15.2% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 10,550 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 1,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 99,375 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $9,413,000 after buying an additional 20,988 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $75.73 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $8.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.76 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $80.74 and a 200-day moving average of $90.94.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released 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 return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. As a group, analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.