Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Acquired by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,758 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 128.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,022,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979,885 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at about $377,341,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $749,235,000 after buying an additional 1,667,164 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $838,025,000 after buying an additional 1,396,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,476,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $502,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,719 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Bank of America raised shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.05.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock traded up $1.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $116.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,723,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,343,544. The business has a fifty day moving average of $122.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $128.00. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.69 and a fifty-two week high of $247.44. The firm has a market cap of $13.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.76, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.62 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.99%.

Albemarle Company 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.