Rakuten Securities Inc. Invests $126,000 in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 875 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 124,405.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 104,510,053 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $22,664,050,000 after acquiring an additional 104,426,113 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 142.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,043,861 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $177,499,000 after acquiring an additional 612,963 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 45.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,378,866 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $299,021,000 after acquiring an additional 432,155 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at $75,802,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 15,046.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 347,763 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $502,450,000 after acquiring an additional 345,467 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.2 %

ALB stock opened at $114.39 on Thursday. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $106.69 and a 1-year high of $247.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $13.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.57, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.62. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.95.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The specialty chemicals company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.86. Albemarle had a return on equity of 26.62% and a net margin of 16.36%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $8.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 11.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $140.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Vertical Research lowered Albemarle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Albemarle in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.05.

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.