Albemarle Corporation $ALB Stock Acquired by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 1,435.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,669 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,150 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $4,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the second quarter valued at $358,101,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 78.5% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 730,745 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $131,191,000 after purchasing an additional 321,400 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 2nd quarter worth about $131,049,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 652,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $117,178,000 after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 827,874 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $111,784,000 after purchasing an additional 238,774 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE ALB opened at $91.00 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $10.74 billion, a PE ratio of 337.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $111.88 and a 200-day moving average of $149.82. Albemarle Corporation has a 52-week low of $88.01 and a 52-week high of $221.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 18th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 607.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALB. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 10th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $175.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Albemarle from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.41.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company develops, manufactures, and markets engineered chemicals used in energy storage, transportation, refining, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, consumer products, and other industrial applications.

Albemarle is one of the world’s major producers of lithium and supplies lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, for use in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid energy-storage systems.