WINTON GROUP Ltd Takes Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 30,700 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,145,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Albemarle by 13,478.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 18,483,447 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,495,820,000 after acquiring an additional 18,347,324 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter worth $358,101,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at $165,271,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the second quarter valued at $131,049,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at $130,415,000. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE ALB opened at $122.33 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.31. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $71.25 and a 12-month high of $221.00. The firm has a market cap of $14.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 453.09, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The specialty chemicals company reported $3.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.55. The company had revenue of $1.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. Albemarle had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 3.09%.Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post 11.39 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This is an increase from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 600.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $161.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a report on Monday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $160.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Vertical Research raised shares of Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $224.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price target on Albemarle from $188.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.04.

Albemarle Company Profile

Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and markets products used in energy storage, transportation, electronics, construction, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and other industrial applications. The company operates through three principal businesses: Energy Storage, Specialties and Ketjen.

Albemarle is one of the major producers of lithium and lithium compounds, including lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, which are used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics and stationary energy storage systems.