Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $50.73 Million Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 52.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 351,123 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 121,172 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $50,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Albemarle by 51.2% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. City State Bank lifted its stake in Albemarle by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE ALB opened at $112.15 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.62. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.07. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.69 and a 1 year high of $247.44.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $8.62 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on ALB shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $155.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 11th. TD Cowen cut shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $220.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.05.

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.