Commerce Bank Acquires Shares of 4,016 Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Commerce Bank bought a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 4,016 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $542,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Pinkerton Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth about $2,785,000. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 181.8% in the fourth quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. now owns 132,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $18,705,000 after purchasing an additional 85,320 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle in the second quarter worth about $4,246,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter valued at approximately $23,328,000. Finally, Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,585,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ALB. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Albemarle from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Albemarle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Albemarle from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on Albemarle from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.04.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $135.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 503.46 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $159.90. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $71.25 and a one year high of $221.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The company’s revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.63 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 600.00%.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.