Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Purchased by Sage Capital Advisors llc

Sage Capital Advisors llc grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Sage Capital Advisors llc’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 176.6% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $209,333,000 after purchasing an additional 3,662,117 shares during the last quarter. TFG Asset Management GP Ltd increased its position in Albemarle by 8,068.3% in the 4th quarter. TFG Asset Management GP Ltd now owns 400,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 395,103 shares during the period. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter valued at about $49,007,000. PGGM Investments lifted its position in Albemarle by 261.6% in the first quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 413,492 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,473,000 after purchasing an additional 299,148 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 115.7% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 542,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,791,000 after buying an additional 290,862 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Citigroup decreased their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.60.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $100.26 on Wednesday. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $177.52. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.46, a PEG ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54.

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

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.