Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 1,719 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,958 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 1,719 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $12,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $185,328,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 938.1% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 402,597 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $94,115,000 after buying an additional 363,816 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,146,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,091,953 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $255,266,000 after buying an additional 119,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,510,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of ALB stock opened at $237.99 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $169.93 and a twelve month high of $291.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $215.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 3rd. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.66. Albemarle had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 6.08%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 20.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.395 per share. This represents a $1.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 15th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $262.00 to $279.00 in a research report on Friday, May 6th. KeyCorp raised shares of Albemarle from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $218.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $285.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 24th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Albemarle from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.95.

About Albemarle

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Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Lithium, Bromine, and Catalysts. The Lithium segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, lithium chloride, and lithium specialties; and reagents, such as butyllithium and lithium aluminum hydride for use in lithium batteries for consumer electronics and electric vehicles, high performance greases, thermoplastic elastomers for car tires, rubber soles, plastic bottles, catalysts for chemical reactions, organic synthesis processes in the areas of steroid chemistry and vitamins, life sciences, pharmaceutical industry, and other markets.