Albemarle Corporation $ALB Shares Purchased by Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey

Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 161.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,808 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 27,701 shares during the quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Albemarle by 10,050.0% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 7,257.1% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 515 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 74.5% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 248.0% during the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 689 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Up 3.2%

ALB stock opened at $121.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.04 and a beta of 1.70. Albemarle Corporation has a 52-week low of $49.43 and a 52-week high of $125.85. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.12.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.55) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -101.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ALB. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Albemarle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $100.21.

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.