Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 1,091 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,901 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,833,984 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $363,117,000 after purchasing an additional 20,930 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,741,906 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $258,797,000 after acquiring an additional 14,874 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Albemarle by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,040,970 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $89,607,000 after acquiring an additional 20,380 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,570,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Albemarle by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 741,484 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $63,827,000 after acquiring an additional 35,765 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Clarkson Capital started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $150.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.05.

Albemarle Stock Up 4.2 %

Albemarle stock opened at $75.41 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $67.23 and a 1-year high of $137.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.73 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.38.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share 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, analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio is -14.46%.

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.