Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Grows Stake in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) by 74.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,589 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,927 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle in the third quarter worth $138,723,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Albemarle by 3.7% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,475,832 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $119,710,000 after purchasing an additional 52,698 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Albemarle by 1.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,263,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $102,464,000 after purchasing an additional 22,856 shares during the last quarter. PGGM Investments grew its holdings in Albemarle by 10.8% in the third quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,185,005 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $96,080,000 after purchasing an additional 115,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Albemarle by 60.9% in the second quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 784,083 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $49,138,000 after purchasing an additional 296,861 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Albemarle news, CEO J Kent Masters sold 11,783 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total value of $2,012,654.23. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,995,808.68. This represents a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $177.10 on Thursday. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $50.24 and a one year high of $206.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $20.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.80, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $170.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.27.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.53) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.40) by ($0.13). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 10.74% and a positive return on equity of 0.41%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.09) earnings per share. Albemarle’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is presently -28.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ALB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $195.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America upgraded Albemarle from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $167.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on Albemarle from $158.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Albemarle from $200.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.24.

About Albemarle

Albemarle Corporation is a leading global specialty chemicals company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of lithium, bromine, and catalysts. Its lithium segment supplies key components used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles, portable electronics, and grid storage systems. The company’s bromine specialty products serve a wide range of industries, including oil and gas drilling fluids, fire safety solutions, and water treatment. In its catalysts division, Albemarle provides products for petroleum refining, chemical processing and emissions control.

Founded in 1994 as a spin-off from Ethyl Corporation, Albemarle has grown through strategic acquisitions and capacity expansions to become one of the world’s foremost chemical producers.