Great Lakes Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 31,443 Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 31,443 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,246,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 25.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,798 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 996 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth about $208,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at about $411,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 536.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Vertical Research raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $166.00 to $157.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $161.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Albemarle from $225.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.26.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of ALB opened at $134.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 498.50 and a beta of 1.33. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $71.25 and a one year high of $221.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $160.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.35.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%.The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 600.00%.

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.