Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 11.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187,002 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 24,281 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.16% of Albemarle worth $15,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. PGGM Investments boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 10.8% in the third quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,080,000 after purchasing an additional 115,081 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the third quarter worth $3,313,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 165,074 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,384,000 after buying an additional 21,257 shares during the last quarter. AXQ Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $267,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 866,575 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $54,308,000 after buying an additional 88,457 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ALB. Wells Fargo & Company set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Albemarle from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Scotiabank raised Albemarle from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $200.00 in a report on Monday, January 12th. Evercore boosted their price objective on Albemarle from $100.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.04.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $178.54 on Monday. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $206.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.99.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.40) by ($0.13). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 0.41% and a negative net margin of 10.74%.The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.09) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -28.17%.

Albemarle Company Profile

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.