Albemarle Corporation $ALB Shares Newly Bought by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 50,308 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,322,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter worth about $358,101,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in Albemarle during the second quarter valued at approximately $131,049,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Albemarle in the second quarter valued at approximately $103,268,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 2,981.1% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 733,793 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $77,621,000 after acquiring an additional 709,977 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 69.7% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,436,117 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $151,912,000 after acquiring an additional 589,787 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Albemarle this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Albemarle reported Q3 adjusted earnings of $2.58 per share, ahead of analyst estimates, and revenue of $1.55 billion, also above expectations and up 18.8% year over year. Higher lithium prices drove a sharp profit increase and stronger cash flow, supporting the positive investor case. Read More. · Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $157.00 to $129.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $161.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a report on Monday, August 10th. Argus decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $230.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.41.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $98.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.59 billion, a PE ratio of 23.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.34. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $89.77 and a twelve month high of $221.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $108.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.24.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.53 by $0.05. Albemarle had a return on equity of 15.23% and a net margin of 10.40%. The company had revenue of $1.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 18th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.61%.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company develops, manufactures, and markets engineered chemicals used in energy storage, transportation, refining, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, consumer products, and other industrial applications.

Albemarle is one of the world’s major producers of lithium and supplies lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, for use in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid energy-storage systems.