Renaissance Technologies LLC Has $5.23 Million Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2,151.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 58,100 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.05% of Albemarle worth $5,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,594,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,256,294,000 after purchasing an additional 359,014 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,795,891 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $240,044,000 after buying an additional 53,985 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,192,527 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $102,653,000 after buying an additional 320,150 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,040,970 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $89,607,000 after acquiring an additional 20,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $85,570,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:ALB opened at $52.88 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of -4.72 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95. Albemarle Co. has a 52-week low of $49.43 and a 52-week high of $137.50.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 21.93% and a negative return on equity of 1.72%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -14.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ALB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $64.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Albemarle from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $122.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $96.05.

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.