Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Raises Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 114.3% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,238,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 6.7% during the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,782 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter worth $271,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 3.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 184,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $13,282,000 after buying an additional 6,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 22,310 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ALB shares. Rothschild Redb raised Albemarle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective (up from $95.00) on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $74.00 to $95.00 in a report on Friday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $95.74.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $97.08 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.42 billion, a PE ratio of -10.42 and a beta of 1.70. Albemarle Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.43 and a 52 week high of $113.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $88.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.35.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.55) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

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

About Albemarle

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.