Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Purchased by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 52.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 351,123 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 121,172 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned 0.30% of Albemarle worth $50,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LRT Capital Management LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. LRT Capital Management LLC now owns 10,424 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,506,000 after buying an additional 3,052 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,479 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 828 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 13,514 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,953,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 2,969 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,082 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE ALB opened at $112.15 on Monday. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.69 and a fifty-two week high of $247.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $123.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $13.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.62.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently 11.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.05.

About Albemarle

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.