SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Invests $209,000 in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,433 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,833,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $363,117,000 after buying an additional 20,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,741,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $258,797,000 after acquiring an additional 14,874 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Albemarle by 38.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,020,590 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,660,000 after acquiring an additional 282,194 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $85,570,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 5.1% in the fourth 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 period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ALB shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Clarkson Capital assumed coverage on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 target price for the company. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.68.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $76.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.84 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.02. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $67.23 and a 12-month high of $137.50.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given 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 2.11%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -14.46%.

Albemarle 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.