M&G Plc Decreases Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

M&G Plc reduced its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 28.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,029 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,255 shares during the quarter. M&G Plc’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. First Community Trust NA purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 610.0% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. USCF Advisers LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Albemarle by 2,942.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ALB shares. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Berenberg Bank lowered 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Baird R W lowered Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.11.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $77.22 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $96.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.08 billion, a PE ratio of 28.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. Albemarle Co. has a 1 year low of $74.82 and a 1 year high of $203.62.

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

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.91%.

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.