Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Purchased by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 20.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 525,043 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 90,813 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.45% of Albemarle worth $50,153,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Albemarle in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. First Community Trust NA acquired a new stake in Albemarle in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. CVA Family Office LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 610.0% in the second quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 284 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2,942.9% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 213 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth $32,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $86.03 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $10.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.54. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $86.91 and a 200-day moving average of $106.63. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $177.52.

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

Albemarle Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ALB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Berenberg Bank lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $160.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $117.10.

About Albemarle

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.