Caprock Group LLC Acquires Shares of 2,326 Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter worth $25,000. First Community Trust NA acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the second quarter worth $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 610.0% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Albemarle by 2,942.9% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter worth $32,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Albemarle from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $85.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Albemarle to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. HSBC lowered shares of Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.10.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $87.44 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $87.73 and a 200-day moving average of $108.36. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $188.47. The company has a market cap of $10.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The business’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently 58.91%.

Albemarle 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.