Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,514 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 142.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,043,861 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $177,499,000 after purchasing an additional 612,963 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 15,046.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 347,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $502,450,000 after acquiring an additional 345,467 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,555,937 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $224,802,000 after acquiring an additional 174,391 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,221,765 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $207,749,000 after acquiring an additional 151,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,570,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $267,117,000 after acquiring an additional 146,450 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.9 %

Albemarle stock opened at $115.27 on Thursday. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.69 and a fifty-two week 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 firm has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $122.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.36.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.05.

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.