Albemarle Corporation $ALB Stock: Vontobel Holding Ltd. Raises Stake

Key Points

• Vontobel Holding significantly increased its Albemarle stake by 375.9% in the third quarter, bringing its holdings to 255,776 shares valued at approximately $27.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.87% of the company.
• Albemarle reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $3.75 versus the $3.20 consensus estimate and revenue of $1.74 billion, up 31.1% year over year.
• The stock traded at $95.41, near its 52-week low and well below its 52-week high of $221. Analysts maintained a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $180.74, despite several recent target reductions and one “strong sell” downgrade.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 375.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 255,776 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 202,035 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. owned about 0.22% of Albemarle worth $27,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 197.1% during the 3rd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 46,651 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $4,935,000 after purchasing an additional 30,948 shares in the last quarter. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the third quarter worth $65,000. NFSG Corp lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 470.0% in the third quarter. NFSG Corp now owns 342 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 25,275.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 1,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Albemarle by 94.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 396,182 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $41,908,000 after purchasing an additional 192,186 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB traded down $2.77 on Friday, reaching $95.41. The company had a trading volume of 2,218,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,552,698. The stock has a market cap of $11.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 353.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 2.09. Albemarle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $88.01 and a fifty-two week high of $221.00. The company's fifty day moving average is $119.34 and its 200 day moving average is $145.71.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. Albemarle had a net margin of 3.09% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.11 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.30 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. This is an increase from Albemarle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.4050. Albemarle's payout ratio is 607.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Albemarle from $157.00 to $129.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Albemarle from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Albemarle from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $180.74.

Albemarle Profile

Albemarle Corporation NYSE: ALB is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and markets materials used in energy storage, transportation, consumer products and industrial applications. The company is best known for its lithium business, which supplies lithium compounds used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics and energy-storage systems.

Albemarle also produces bromine-based specialty chemicals used in areas such as fire safety, water treatment, pharmaceutical manufacturing and other industrial processes.

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