Covestor Ltd Grows Stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 290.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 812 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 604 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $77,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,813,054 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $364,223,000 after acquiring an additional 87,970 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 176.6% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $209,333,000 after purchasing an additional 3,662,117 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Albemarle by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,568,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $149,833,000 after buying an additional 144,705 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,311,331 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $125,264,000 after buying an additional 29,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,198,730 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $114,503,000 after buying an additional 127,615 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. HSBC cut Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho cut their target price on Albemarle from $128.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $108.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.47.

Albemarle Trading Up 5.2 %

NYSE:ALB opened at $108.19 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.20. The stock has a market cap of $12.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.46 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Albemarle Co. has a 12 month low of $71.97 and a 12 month high of $153.54.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is -9.67%.

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.