Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,514 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 75.8% during the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,038 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,217,000 after buying an additional 5,620 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 47.9% during the 3rd quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 2,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $469,000 after buying an additional 893 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,415 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $323,000. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 10,892 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after buying an additional 876 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $115.27 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $122.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.36. The company has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.64, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.62. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $106.69 and a 12 month high of $247.44.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Bank of America raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. KeyCorp cut their target price on Albemarle from $178.00 to $159.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.05.

Albemarle 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.