Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 47.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,844 shares during the quarter. Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 212.7% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 118,684 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $15,178,000 after purchasing an additional 80,730 shares during the period. State of Wisconsin Investment Board raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 98,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $12,533,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 26,991 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,496 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 8,061,848 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,031,029,000 after purchasing an additional 69,181 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 321,542 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $41,122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,460 shares during the period. 86.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Get Albemarle alerts:ALB opened at $93.46 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $86.75 and a fifty-two week high of $144.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 2.48. The firm has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.63.
Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 9th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.10. Albemarle had a net margin of 4.27% and a return on equity of 13.80%. The firm had revenue of $821.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $798.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 5.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 14th. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.19%.
A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ALB shares. TheStreet raised shares of Albemarle from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 9th. Seaport Global Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, March 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $133.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 2nd. Loop Capital set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 2nd. Finally, Argus began coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $124.16.
Albemarle Profile
Albemarle Corporation develops, manufactures, and markets engineered specialty chemicals worldwide. Its Lithium and Advanced Materials segment offers lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, lithium chloride, and lithium specialties, as well as reagents, such as butyllithium and lithium aluminum hydride for applications in lithium batteries for consumer electronics and automobiles, high performance greases, thermoplastic elastomers for car tires, rubber soles, plastic bottles, catalysts for chemical reactions, organic synthesis processes, life science, pharmaceutical, and other markets.
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