430,222 Shares in Albemarle Corporation $ALB Purchased by Nykredit A S

Key Points

• Nykredit A S acquired 430,222 Albemarle shares worth approximately $58.1 million, representing about 0.36% of the company. Institutional investors collectively own 92.87% of Albemarle.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $190.04, though individual targets range from $161 to $224.
• Albemarle reported quarterly earnings of $3.75 per share, exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 31.1% year over year to $1.74 billion. The company also maintained its quarterly dividend at $0.41 per share, equal to a 1.5% annualized yield.

Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 430,222 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $58,093,000. Nykredit A S owned about 0.36% of Albemarle as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,584 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 40.5% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 827,874 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $111,784,000 after purchasing an additional 238,774 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at $4,821,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 6,118.2% in the second quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 20,209 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,729,000 after purchasing an additional 19,884 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Albemarle by 17.1% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,154 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Vertical Research raised shares of Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $224.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $153.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued a "reduce" rating and issued a $161.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Albemarle from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $190.04.

Albemarle Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of ALB opened at $111.03 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 411.22, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 2.09 and a quick ratio of 1.35. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $79.30 and a one year high of $221.00. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $125.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.52.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.61 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%.The business's revenue was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.11 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. This is an increase from Albemarle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Albemarle's payout ratio is currently 607.41%.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation NYSE: ALB is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and markets products used in energy storage, transportation, electronics, construction, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and other industrial applications. The company operates through three principal businesses: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen.

Albemarle is one of the major producers of lithium and lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, which are used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics and stationary energy storage systems.

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