70,655 Shares in Albemarle Corporation $ALB Purchased by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 70,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,541,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,245,000. Equitable Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the 2nd quarter valued at $266,000. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,006,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Albemarle during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,538,000. Finally, Blue Edge Capital LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the 2nd quarter worth $1,201,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ALB. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $166.00 to $157.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Albemarle from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Mizuho dropped 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. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.04.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.2%

ALB opened at $137.34 on Friday. Albemarle Corporation has a 12 month low of $71.25 and a 12 month high of $221.00. The company has a market cap of $16.21 billion, a PE ratio of 508.69 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $129.26 and a 200 day moving average of $159.74.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%.The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.39 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Albemarle’s 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.