Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,672,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,056,697,000 after acquiring an additional 77,773 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Albemarle by 28.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $110,814,000 after purchasing an additional 343,210 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Albemarle by 3.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,072,921 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $77,272,000 after purchasing an additional 31,951 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 90.4% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,069,924 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $67,052,000 after buying an additional 507,975 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 55.4% during the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 959,978 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $60,162,000 after buying an additional 342,321 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Albemarle from $80.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn initiated coverage on shares of Albemarle in a report on Friday, October 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $135.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $95.74.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $97.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $88.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.35. Albemarle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $113.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.42 billion, a PE ratio of -10.42 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.55) earnings per share. Albemarle’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -101.89%.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen. The Energy Storage segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, and lithium chloride; technical services for the handling and use of reactive lithium products; and lithium-containing by-products recycling services.