PGGM Investments Buys 92,239 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

PGGM Investments increased its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 22.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 505,731 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,239 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Albemarle were worth $48,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,407 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $363,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 25,176 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,637,000 after acquiring an additional 5,376 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,026,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Albemarle by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 342,119 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $49,429,000 after purchasing an additional 8,778 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB stock traded down $4.37 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $72.85. The stock had a trading volume of 4,527,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,114,127. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $203.62. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $95.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.16.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ALB. Bank of America dropped their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.11.

Albemarle Profile

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.