Robeco Schweiz AG Lowers Holdings in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Robeco Schweiz AG lessened its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 352,210 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 35,500 shares during the period. Robeco Schweiz AG’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $28,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 165,074 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,384,000 after purchasing an additional 21,257 shares in the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in Albemarle during the second quarter worth approximately $267,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 11.4% during the second quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 866,575 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $54,308,000 after buying an additional 88,457 shares during the last quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. Leibman Financial Services Inc. now owns 48,871 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,063,000 after buying an additional 6,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bard Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 42,895 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,478,000 after acquiring an additional 13,380 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $159.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $210.00 price target on Albemarle and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.96.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $176.69 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $132.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.80 billion, a PE ratio of -111.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.12 and a beta of 1.41. Albemarle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $177.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.27.

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, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. The business had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.10% and a negative net margin of 0.43%.The company’s revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.55) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently -101.89%.

Albemarle Profile

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.