Cadence Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 5,205 Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Cadence Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,205 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $703,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Pinkerton Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,785,000. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 181.8% in the 4th quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. now owns 132,250 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $18,705,000 after purchasing an additional 85,320 shares during the period. Wealth High Governance Capital Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $21,585,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 230,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,655,000 after buying an additional 74,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 4,338.5% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 738,430 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $104,444,000 after buying an additional 721,793 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $225.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley restated a “reduce” rating and set a $161.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Argus lifted their price target on Albemarle from $185.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Albemarle from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.26.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $142.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $132.04 and a 200 day moving average of $160.73. The firm has a market cap of $16.87 billion, a PE ratio of 529.61 and a beta of 1.33. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $71.25 and a one year high of $221.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The business had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 600.00%.

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.