530,405 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB Bought by M&G PLC

M&G PLC acquired a new position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 530,405 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,106,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in Albemarle by 803.5% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 223,856 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $23,679,000 after buying an additional 199,080 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 53,430.0% in the third quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 10,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 10,686 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1,790.5% in the 3rd quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 794 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in Albemarle by 3,416.3% during the 3rd quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 9,951 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,053,000 after purchasing an additional 9,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 101.2% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,560 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after buying an additional 4,809 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price (down from $185.00) on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday. Mizuho upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Albemarle from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.05.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $98.96 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $106.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $147.47. The company has a market cap of $11.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.90, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.34. Albemarle Corporation has a 12 month low of $89.77 and a 12 month high of $221.00. 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 (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.53 by $0.05. Albemarle had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 15.23%. The business had revenue of $1.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.19) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.23 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. Investors of record on Friday, December 18th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 18th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.61%.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation is a specialty chemicals company that produces lithium, bromine and refining catalysts. Its products serve industries including energy storage, transportation, electronics, petroleum refining and pharmaceuticals.

The company supplies lithium compounds used in rechargeable batteries and other applications. It also makes bromine-based products for uses such as flame retardants and water treatment, along with catalysts used in refining petroleum.

Albemarle traces its history to 1887 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.