Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Raises Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its Albemarle position by 331% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 203,996 shares valued at approximately $27.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 92.87% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view, with 15 Buy, 10 Hold and 1 Sell rating; Albemarle has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $192.30.
• Albemarle exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $3.75 in adjusted EPS versus a $3.20 estimate and $1.74 billion in revenue, up 31.1% year over year. Shares opened at $131.52, while CEO J. Kent Masters separately sold about $3.0 million of stock.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 331.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 203,996 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 156,662 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.17% of Albemarle worth $27,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ALB. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,630,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $230,603,000 after buying an additional 207,770 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $102,464,000 after buying an additional 22,856 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,241,106 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $175,542,000 after buying an additional 453,881 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $165,271,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $130,415,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ALB. Berenberg Bank raised their price objective 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 cut their price target on Albemarle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Albemarle from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Albemarle from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $216.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $192.30.

Insider Transactions at Albemarle

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 16,393 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.72, for a total transaction of $3,011,721.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 87,519 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,078,990.68. The trade was a 15.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of ALB opened at $131.52 on Monday. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $71.25 and a 12-month high of $221.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company's 50-day moving average price is $137.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.08. The firm has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 487.13 and a beta of 1.33.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.55. The firm had revenue of $1.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 31.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.11 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 12.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a boost from Albemarle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 600.00%.

Albemarle Profile

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company's bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world's foremost chemical producers.

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