Albemarle Corporation $ALB Stock: Vontobel Holding Ltd. Grows Holdings

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 375.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 255,776 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 202,035 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $27,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 190.1% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 293 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $54,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ALB. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Monday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $109.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Argus lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $230.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.74.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock traded down $2.77 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $95.41. 2,218,195 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,552,698. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $88.01 and a twelve month high of $221.00. The company has a market cap of $11.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 353.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $119.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.71.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.30 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.4050. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 607.41%.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and markets materials used in energy storage, transportation, consumer products and industrial applications. The company is best known for its lithium business, which supplies lithium compounds used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics and energy-storage systems.

Albemarle also produces bromine-based specialty chemicals used in areas such as fire safety, water treatment, pharmaceutical manufacturing and other industrial processes.