Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 5,158 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $696,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pinkerton Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,785,000. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 181.8% in the fourth quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. now owns 132,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,705,000 after acquiring an additional 85,320 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,246,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter worth approximately $23,328,000. Finally, Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $21,585,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $133.14 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.71 billion, a PE ratio of 493.12 and a beta of 1.33. Albemarle Corporation has a 1 year low of $71.25 and a 1 year high of $221.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%.The firm’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. 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 1.2%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 600.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on Albemarle from $225.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $166.00 to $157.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.04.

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.