Sicart Associates LLC Buys 180 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Sicart Associates LLC raised its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the quarter. Albemarle makes up about 2.3% of Sicart Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Sicart Associates LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $6,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in Albemarle by 2.4% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,813,054 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $364,223,000 after purchasing an additional 87,970 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its stake in Albemarle by 4.9% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,472,155 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $325,682,000 after purchasing an additional 116,284 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 176.6% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $209,333,000 after buying an additional 3,662,117 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 10.2% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,568,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $149,833,000 after buying an additional 144,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,311,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $125,264,000 after buying an additional 29,721 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Hsbc Global Res raised Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.30.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $97.68. 622,746 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,987,988. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.48 billion, a PE ratio of 35.69, a P/E/G ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $153.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $91.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.36.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The company’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.33 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently 58.91%.

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.