Nordea Investment Management AB Makes New Investment in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 43,339 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,171,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 2.8% in the third quarter. Per Stirling Capital Management LLC. now owns 3,332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 18.2% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 677 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 36.8% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 413 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.2% during the third quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 10,160 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Albemarle

In related news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total transaction of $2,012,654.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,628 shares in the company, valued at $22,995,808.68. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.33% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Stephens reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Friday, December 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Albemarle from $145.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $158.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.24.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB opened at $174.72 on Friday. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $206.00. The company has a market cap of $20.56 billion, a PE ratio of -30.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $171.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $133.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 10.74% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.09) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -28.17%.

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.