SG Americas Securities LLC Buys 3,748 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 40,174 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,748 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 48.5% in 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 during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 22,047.4% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 713,812 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $44,613,000 after acquiring an additional 710,589 shares during the last quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,903,000. PGGM Investments boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 90.4% during the 2nd quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,069,924 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $67,052,000 after purchasing an additional 507,975 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Albemarle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,482,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on ALB shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Albemarle from $152.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Truist Financial set a $125.00 price objective on Albemarle in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $134.04.

Albemarle Trading Up 4.9%

NYSE:ALB opened at $169.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.56. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $169.62. The firm has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -106.44, a P/E/G ratio of 6.78 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.27.

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

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

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

About Albemarle

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.