Sanctuary Advisors LLC Makes New $1.22 Million Investment in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 12,768 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,220,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 176.6% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $209,333,000 after purchasing an additional 3,662,117 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 1st quarter valued at about $49,007,000. PGGM Investments increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 261.6% in the 1st quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 413,492 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,473,000 after purchasing an additional 299,148 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 115.7% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 542,200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $51,791,000 after purchasing an additional 290,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,423,897 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $187,584,000 after purchasing an additional 265,313 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $103.00 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.27. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $177.52. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market cap of $12.11 billion, a PE ratio of 37.45, a P/E/G ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its 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). The business 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%. The business’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently 58.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $80.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.60.

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.