33,604 Shares in Albemarle Corporation $ALB Purchased by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 33,604 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,538,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle during the second quarter worth about $28,000. BOKF NA boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 5,771.4% in the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 536.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Albemarle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ALB shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Albemarle from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Albemarle from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Citigroup cut their price target on Albemarle from $225.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $166.00 to $157.00 and set an “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 given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.04.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB stock opened at $137.65 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $128.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.04. Albemarle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $71.25 and a fifty-two week high of $221.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.24 billion, a PE ratio of 509.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.33.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. Analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.39 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 600.00%.

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.