Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,878 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $4,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 12.1% in the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,601 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. Czech National Bank raised its position in Albemarle by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 23,942 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new position in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth $692,000. American National Bank & Trust increased its stake in Albemarle by 137.7% in the third quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 2,432 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.8% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 122,342 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $11,686,000 after buying an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ALB. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.60.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $100.26 on Wednesday. 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 cap of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.46, a PEG ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $87.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $104.29. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $177.52.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued 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). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business 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 is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. 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.