Swiss National Bank Has $14.06 Million Stock Holdings in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Swiss National Bank reduced its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 32.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 224,406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 107,100 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.19% of Albemarle worth $14,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Moran Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,482 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $594,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.7% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 22,798 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,496,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.8% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 22,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,425,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Albemarle by 74.5% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in Albemarle by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,415 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Albemarle from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $105.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $101.29.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $126.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $127.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $98.78 and a 200-day moving average of $79.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.61 and a beta of 1.70.

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

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.