Thomist Capital Management LP Invests $1.65 Million in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Thomist Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 17,725 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,646,000. Albemarle comprises 0.6% of Thomist Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 4,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $597,000 after buying an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 239.7% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $5,138,000 after purchasing an additional 37,958 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Albemarle by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 190,526 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,100,000 after purchasing an additional 35,003 shares during the period. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 5,063 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $731,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank increased its position in Albemarle by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 10,667 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,541,000 after buying an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Berenberg Bank downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. KeyCorp cut their price target on Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.10.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE ALB opened at $86.57 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.48, a P/E/G ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $87.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.34. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $71.97 and a fifty-two week high of $182.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The company’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.91%.

Albemarle Profile

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.