Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Trims Stock Holdings in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 22.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 52,382 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 15,296 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $4,247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 36.8% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 536.7% in the second 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. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 248.0% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 689 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 70.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 692 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $210.00 price target on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Truist Financial set a $210.00 target price on Albemarle in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Albemarle from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Albemarle from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.24.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $161.93 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.43. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $206.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.02.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($1.09) earnings per share. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 1.0%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -28.17%.

Albemarle Company 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.