Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Has $17.25 Million Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 200,413 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 18,275 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned about 0.17% of Albemarle worth $17,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Albemarle by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,256,294,000 after buying an additional 359,014 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,086,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $3,480,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 531,690 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $45,767,000 after buying an additional 17,687 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Albemarle by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 29,685 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,555,000 after buying an additional 973 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $72.21 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.78. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $67.23 and a one year high of $137.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.45 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th 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 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI cut shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.30.

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.