Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Invests $11.69 Million in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 135,846 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,694,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.12% of Albemarle as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 81.2% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 17,019 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 7,629 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 28,849 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,187 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 240.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 25,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,152,000 after purchasing an additional 17,655 shares during the period. Finally, Marathon Trading Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,058,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on ALB shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.05.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $75.41 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $67.23 and a 12 month high of $137.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.38. The company has a market cap of $8.87 billion, a PE ratio of -6.73 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -14.46%.

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.