Nwam LLC Takes Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Nwam LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 5,059 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $410,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,954,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $184,782,000 after purchasing an additional 59,104 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 48.5% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,870,110 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $179,870,000 after buying an additional 937,538 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle in the 3rd quarter valued at $138,723,000. PGGM Investments raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $96,080,000 after buying an additional 115,081 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 55.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 959,978 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $60,162,000 after acquiring an additional 342,321 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $162.82 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -102.40, a P/E/G ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $179.14.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 0.43% and a positive return on equity of 0.10%. The firm had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.55) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -101.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. Scotiabank raised shares of Albemarle from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $85.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Stephens reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Rothschild Redb upgraded Albemarle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Albemarle from $88.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Baird R W raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.75.

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.