Albemarle Corporation $ALB Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 77,230 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 24,901 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $6,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 9.9% in the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 7,625 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the third quarter worth $254,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in Albemarle by 32.7% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,515 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,096,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abbington Investment Group bought a new stake in Albemarle during the third quarter worth about $333,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ALB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Albemarle from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Albemarle from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.75.

Albemarle Trading Down 6.3%

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $162.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $136.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.37. The company has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -102.40, a PEG ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $179.14.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.10% and a negative net margin of 0.43%.The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.55) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -101.89%.

About Albemarle

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.