Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 9,967 Shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 242,716 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,967 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $21,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ALB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle by 2.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 buying an additional 14,874 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 20,380 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,570,000. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 741,484 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $63,827,000 after acquiring an additional 35,765 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB opened at $72.21 on Monday. Albemarle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $67.23 and a fifty-two week high of $137.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $79.84 and a 200 day moving average of $90.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.45 and a beta of 1.70.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results 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, research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Albemarle’s payout ratio is presently -14.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ALB. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $103.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $99.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Clarkson Capital started coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $112.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $96.00 to $85.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.30.

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.