Wealthfront Advisers LLC Purchases Shares of 5,246 Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,246 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $708,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 190.1% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 293 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 121.5% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 299 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ALB. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, HSBC upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Fifteen equities 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.26.

Albemarle Trading Up 6.6%

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $142.99 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.73. Albemarle Corporation has a 1 year low of $71.25 and a 1 year high of $221.00. The company has a market capitalization of $16.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 529.61 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

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. Research analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.63 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.