Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Boosts Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 6.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 735,382 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,287 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned approximately 0.63% of Albemarle worth $70,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Symmetry Investments LP bought a new stake in Albemarle in the second quarter worth about $220,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 6.2% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 146,459 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $13,990,000 after buying an additional 8,528 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 689,927 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $65,902,000 after acquiring an additional 23,618 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 20.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 525,043 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $50,153,000 after acquiring an additional 90,813 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 16,047 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $86.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $10.11 billion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $177.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $86.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.72.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. HSBC lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.10.

Albemarle Company Profile

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.