Creative Planning Raises Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Creative Planning boosted its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 165.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,623 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,704 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Albemarle by 2,942.9% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 87,484 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $12,641,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at $238,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 12,308 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its stake in Albemarle by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 3,872 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Up 8.2 %

NYSE:ALB opened at $102.07 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $177.52. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $86.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.99. The stock has a market cap of $12.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.12, a P/E/G ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently 58.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ALB shares. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. HSBC downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.10.

Albemarle Company 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.