Man Group plc Makes New Investment in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Man Group plc purchased a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 238,669 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,227,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 25.5% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,798 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 996 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at about $208,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter valued at about $411,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 536.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ALB. Vertical Research upgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Citigroup cut their target price on Albemarle from $225.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Albemarle from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Argus raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.04.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $134.59 on Thursday. Albemarle Corporation has a 52-week low of $71.25 and a 52-week high of $221.00. The company has a market cap of $15.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 498.50 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.09.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 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.