Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Takes Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 358,493 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,407,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 0.30% of Albemarle as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 181.8% in the 4th quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. now owns 132,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,705,000 after buying an additional 85,320 shares during the period. Pinkerton Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,785,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,246,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the second quarter valued at approximately $23,328,000. Finally, Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda purchased a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $21,585,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ALB. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $236.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Albemarle from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Albemarle from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.04.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE ALB opened at $135.93 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $129.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.90. Albemarle Corporation has a 12 month low of $71.25 and a 12 month high of $221.00. 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 $16.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 503.46 and a beta of 1.33.

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. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.11 earnings per share. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 600.00%.

Albemarle Company 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.