Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Has $49.43 Million Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 342,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 8,778 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.29% of Albemarle worth $49,429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. City State Bank grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Albemarle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $175.05.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $112.15 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.69 and a 1 year high of $247.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $13.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.62. The business has a 50-day moving average of $123.05 and a 200-day moving average of $129.47.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $8.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.99%.

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.