Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Buys Shares of 48,950 Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 48,950 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,610,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Evexia Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Evexia Wealth LLC now owns 2,088 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,468 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC now owns 5,769 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $816,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% during the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 2,952 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,592 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ALB shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $244.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Albemarle from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.26.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB opened at $142.99 on Monday. Albemarle Corporation has a 52-week low of $71.25 and a 52-week high of $221.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.87 billion, a PE ratio of 529.61 and a beta of 1.33. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $132.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%.The business’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 600.00%.

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.