Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Purchased by Man Group plc

Man Group plc increased its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 1,213.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 158,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 146,566 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc owned approximately 0.13% of Albemarle worth $13,657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 317,963 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $27,370,000 after purchasing an additional 34,800 shares in the last quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $320,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its position in Albemarle by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 4,820 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,748 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 170.4% in the 4th quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 10,580 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $911,000 after acquiring an additional 6,667 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ALB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Albemarle from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $86.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $91.62.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE ALB traded down $2.82 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $56.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,504,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,795,565. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.95 and a quick ratio of 1.19. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $130.80. The company's 50-day moving average is $62.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.05 and a beta of 1.71.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.57%.

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.