30,700 Shares in Albemarle Corporation $ALB Acquired by WINTON GROUP Ltd

WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 30,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,145,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Albemarle by 13,478.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 18,483,447 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,495,820,000 after purchasing an additional 18,347,324 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at $358,101,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at $165,271,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter valued at about $131,049,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $130,415,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Albemarle from $225.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on Albemarle from $153.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.04.

Albemarle Stock Down 2.8%

Albemarle stock opened at $122.33 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $127.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $157.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $71.25 and a twelve month high of $221.00. The company has a market capitalization of $14.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 453.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.33.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. Albemarle’s revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.39 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 600.00%.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and markets products used in energy storage, transportation, electronics, construction, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and other industrial applications. The company operates through three principal businesses: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen.

Albemarle is one of the major producers of lithium and lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, which are used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics and stationary energy storage systems.