349,801 Shares in Albemarle Corporation $ALB Purchased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 349,801 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,234,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.30% of Albemarle as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth about $165,271,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $131,049,000. Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $130,415,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $103,268,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 4,338.5% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 738,430 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $104,444,000 after buying an additional 721,793 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $166.00 to $157.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.04.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.2%

ALB opened at $137.34 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.74. Albemarle Corporation has a 1-year low of $71.25 and a 1-year high of $221.00. The stock has a market cap of $16.21 billion, a PE ratio of 508.69 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 600.00%.

About Albemarle

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.