Corebridge Financial Inc. Reduces Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Corebridge Financial Inc. lowered its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 27,830 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,351 shares during the period. Corebridge Financial Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1,400.0% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Albemarle by 340.6% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 304 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in Albemarle by 606.5% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 325 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 50.4% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Community Trust NA boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 55.0% in the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 400 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ALB shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. 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. Clarkson Capital began coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.30.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE ALB opened at $71.83 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.44 billion, a PE ratio of -6.41 and a beta of 1.70. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $67.23 and a 1-year high of $137.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $78.89 and a 200-day moving average of $90.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -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.