AIA Group Ltd Buys 576 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,292 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $304,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 51.2% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 39.0% in the 4th quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 164 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 5,212 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,378,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in Albemarle by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,593 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ALB shares. Vertical Research cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Albemarle from $191.00 to $188.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Albemarle from $168.00 to $162.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 15th. Bank of America upgraded Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.05.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ALB stock opened at $112.15 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.69 and a 52-week high of $247.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.18 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.47.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 26.62%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $8.62 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.99%.

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.