Moore Capital Management LP Takes $8.04 Million Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Moore Capital Management LP 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 firm acquired 59,533 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,039,000. Moore Capital Management LP owned 0.05% of Albemarle at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $358,101,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at about $165,271,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Albemarle during the second quarter valued at about $131,049,000. Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at $130,415,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 2nd quarter valued at $103,268,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALB. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $225.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $153.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Fifteen investment 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.04.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $137.34 on Monday. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $71.25 and a one year high of $221.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $129.26 and a 200-day moving average of $159.70. 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 stock has a market cap of $16.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 508.69 and a beta of 1.33.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. Albemarle’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders 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 (DPR) is currently 600.00%.

Albemarle Company Profile

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.