2,652,009 Shares in Albemarle Corporation $ALB Bought by Primecap Management Co. CA

Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,652,009 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $358,101,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 25.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $229,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 26.2% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,798 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter worth about $208,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth about $411,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 536.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Argus increased their price objective on Albemarle from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Albemarle from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Albemarle from $244.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.04.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $133.14 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $15.71 billion, a PE ratio of 493.12 and a beta of 1.33. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $71.25 and a one year high of $221.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%.The business’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is 600.00%.

Albemarle 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.