Aigen Investment Management LP Acquires New Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,606 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 3.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 4.6% in the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. raised its holdings in Albemarle by 4.1% in the second quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 3,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. abrdn plc raised its holdings in Albemarle by 0.3% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 42,529 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,031,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 61.9% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 387 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE ALB opened at $103.53 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $95.52 and a 200-day moving average of $100.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.44. The stock has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a PE ratio of -6.18 and a beta of 1.55. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $71.97 and a 52-week high of $153.54.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -9.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ALB shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.47.

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.