Scotia Capital Inc. Buys 20,811 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Scotia Capital Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 955.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,989 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,811 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 50.4% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying 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 increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% during the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,908 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 4,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ALB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI cut Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.70.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB opened at $56.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.57. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $137.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.66 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.05 and a beta of 1.59.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently -14.46%.

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.