Pensioenfonds Rail & OV Has $22.82 Million Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Pensioenfonds Rail & OV trimmed its position in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 237,843 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 3,717 shares during the period. Pensioenfonds Rail & OV owned approximately 0.20% of Albemarle worth $22,815,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Albemarle by 128.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $1,022,420,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979,885 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 176.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $209,333,000 after acquiring an additional 3,662,117 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $838,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396,624 shares in the last quarter. TFG Asset Management GP Ltd increased its stake in Albemarle by 8,068.3% in the fourth quarter. TFG Asset Management GP Ltd now owns 400,000 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 395,103 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors acquired a new position in Albemarle in the first quarter worth about $49,007,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE ALB opened at $94.35 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $71.97 and a 52 week high of $177.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $86.64 and a 200-day moving average of $105.14.

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). Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.33 earnings per share. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $102.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Baird R W lowered Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $124.00 to $109.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.10.

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.