Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Takes $556,000 Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 4,120 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Earnest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,630,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $230,603,000 after buying an additional 207,770 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Albemarle by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,464,000 after acquiring an additional 22,856 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $175,542,000 after acquiring an additional 453,881 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at about $165,271,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at about $130,415,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ALB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $166.00 to $157.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Albemarle from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Albemarle from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Albemarle from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.26.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of ALB opened at $134.22 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $133.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 497.13 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Albemarle Corporation has a 1-year low of $71.25 and a 1-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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.91 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a positive change 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 (DPR) is currently 600.00%.

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.