Secure Asset Management LLC Increases Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Secure Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,408 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Albemarle by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $2,034,787,000 after purchasing an additional 82,874 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 128.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,022,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,979,885 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $838,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396,624 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Albemarle by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $749,235,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in Albemarle by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,476,674 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $502,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245,719 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on ALB. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $145.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.60.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB stock traded up $3.62 on Friday, hitting $90.50. The company had a trading volume of 2,200,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,124,631. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Albemarle Co. has a 12-month low of $71.97 and a 12-month high of $203.62. The stock has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.57. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.77.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.91%.

About Albemarle

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.