OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Raises Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,969 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle by 124,405.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 104,510,053 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $22,664,050,000 after acquiring an additional 104,426,113 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 142.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,043,861 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $177,499,000 after purchasing an additional 612,963 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 45.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,378,866 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $299,021,000 after buying an additional 432,155 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $75,802,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 15,046.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 347,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $502,450,000 after buying an additional 345,467 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $112.15 on Monday. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.69 and a 52-week high of $247.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $13.18 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.62. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $129.07.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $8.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen downgraded Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $155.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.