14,897 Shares in Albemarle Corporation $ALB Bought by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,897 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,012,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle in the second quarter worth $28,000. BOKF NA increased its stake in Albemarle by 5,771.4% in the 3rd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 411 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the period. Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 536.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new position in Albemarle in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ALB shares. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised Albemarle from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Albemarle from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Albemarle from $205.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Albemarle from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.26.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $141.60 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $131.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.50. Albemarle Corporation has a 1-year low of $71.25 and a 1-year high of $221.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 524.46 and a beta of 1.33.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.11 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.