30,750 Shares in Albemarle Corporation $ALB Acquired by Quantitative Investment Management LLC

Quantitative Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 30,750 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,152,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at approximately $358,101,000. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,630,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $230,603,000 after acquiring an additional 207,770 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Albemarle by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,464,000 after acquiring an additional 22,856 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Albemarle by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $175,542,000 after acquiring an additional 453,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth $165,271,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Albemarle from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $244.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Vertical Research upgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Albemarle from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.04.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.0%

Albemarle stock opened at $137.34 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $129.26 and a 200-day moving average of $159.70. 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. The company has a market cap of $16.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 508.69 and a beta of 1.33.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%.The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 earnings per share. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Albemarle’s payout ratio 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.