abrdn plc Acquires 20,648 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

abrdn plc boosted its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 68.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,686 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 20,648 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $7,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Strategies LLC increased its position in Albemarle by 149.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 14,058 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after buying an additional 8,420 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 283,876 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $48,270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,593 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 80.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,757 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $3,359,000 after purchasing an additional 8,799 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 412,821 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $70,179,000 after purchasing an additional 33,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 235.9% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 12,107 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 8,503 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ALB. Wolfe Research began coverage on Albemarle in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Berenberg Bank raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $160.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Albemarle from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Bank of America raised Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $137.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Albemarle from $137.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.05.

Albemarle Trading Up 1.7 %

ALB stock opened at $116.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.76, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.62. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $106.69 and a twelve month high of $247.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $122.79 and a 200-day moving average of $128.00.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $8.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.99%.

Albemarle Company 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.