Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Acquired by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,795,891 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 53,985 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.38% of Albemarle worth $240,044,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,256,294,000 after purchasing an additional 359,014 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,192,527 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,653,000 after acquiring an additional 320,150 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,040,970 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $89,607,000 after acquiring an additional 20,380 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at $85,570,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 741,484 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $63,827,000 after purchasing an additional 35,765 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $58.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.23 and a beta of 1.59. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $57.53 and a fifty-two week high of $137.50. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.15.

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

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Albemarle from $133.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.30.

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.