Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,382 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 15,296 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $4,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth about $138,723,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 48.5% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $179,870,000 after purchasing an additional 937,538 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 22,047.4% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 713,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,613,000 after buying an additional 710,589 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,482,000. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 1,278.8% in the 3rd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 440,608 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $35,725,000 after acquiring an additional 408,652 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB stock opened at $161.93 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.23. Albemarle Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $206.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.02.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.13). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 10.74%.The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.09) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -28.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ALB. Evercore raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Albemarle from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on Albemarle from $158.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Albemarle from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $210.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.24.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.