Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Bought by Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc.

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 39.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,242 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,034,787,000 after buying an additional 82,874 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 128.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,022,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,979,885 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $838,025,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396,624 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in Albemarle by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,813,054 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $364,223,000 after purchasing an additional 87,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,472,155 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $325,682,000 after purchasing an additional 116,284 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $94.07 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.06. The company has a market capitalization of $11.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $71.97 and a 1 year high of $177.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.67.

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). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. Albemarle’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. 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. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ALB shares. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. HSBC lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.