Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 76,051 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 510.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,964 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 76,051 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned 0.08% of Albemarle worth $8,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Albemarle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,034,787,000 after acquiring an additional 82,874 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Albemarle by 128.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,022,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,979,885 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Albemarle by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $838,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396,624 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position in Albemarle by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,476,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $502,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,719 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $377,341,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $89.86 on Wednesday. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $183.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $87.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.67. The company has a market capitalization of $10.56 billion, a PE ratio of 32.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.33 EPS. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $102.00 to $85.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.10.

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.