Renaissance Technologies LLC Acquires 321,400 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 78.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 730,745 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 321,400 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $131,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,630,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $230,603,000 after acquiring an additional 207,770 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,464,000 after acquiring an additional 22,856 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $175,542,000 after purchasing an additional 453,881 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth $165,271,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. bought a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $130,415,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $153.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Argus boosted their price objective 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, Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.87.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total value of $3,011,721.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,078,990.68. This represents a 15.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $114.88 on Friday. Albemarle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $64.95 and a fifty-two week high of $221.00. The company has a market cap of $13.55 billion, a PE ratio of -33.69 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $148.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.23.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $1.71. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 5.00% and a positive return on equity of 5.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.18) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.86 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 dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -48.09%.

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.