Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Purchased by MBB Public Markets I LLC

MBB Public Markets I LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 392.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,916 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,309 shares during the quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $591,000. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 11.9% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,198,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $114,503,000 after buying an additional 127,615 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 60.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 22,508 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,150,000 after buying an additional 8,497 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Albemarle by 47.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 257,786 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $24,655,000 after buying an additional 82,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Albemarle by 70.1% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 1,854 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of ALB opened at $94.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.75. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $71.97 and a 1-year high of $177.52. The company has a market capitalization of $11.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.31, a P/E/G ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.14.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ALB shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Baird R W cut Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.