AMF Tjanstepension AB Purchases New Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,305 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $692,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 176.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $209,333,000 after buying an additional 3,662,117 shares during the period. TFG Asset Management GP Ltd increased its position in Albemarle by 8,068.3% during the 4th quarter. TFG Asset Management GP Ltd now owns 400,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 395,103 shares during the period. Capital World Investors bought a new position in Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth $49,007,000. PGGM Investments increased its position in Albemarle by 261.6% during the 1st quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 413,492 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,473,000 after buying an additional 299,148 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 115.7% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 542,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $51,791,000 after buying an additional 290,862 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $94.30 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $86.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.06. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $177.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.29, a PEG ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 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 firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given 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 an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Berenberg Bank lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $160.00 to $83.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Hsbc Global Res raised Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, HSBC lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.