Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 17,030 Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 17,030 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,298,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Albemarle by 10,050.0% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 406 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 7,257.1% during the 2nd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 515 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 536.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 573 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 248.0% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 689 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 18th. Rothschild Redb upgraded Albemarle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $152.48.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.7%

Albemarle stock opened at $189.56 on Friday. Albemarle Corporation has a 1 year low of $49.43 and a 1 year high of $191.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $143.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $22.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -119.22, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 1.41.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.73. The company had revenue of $1.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 0.43% and a positive return on equity of 0.10%. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.55) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -101.89%.

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.