AIA Group Ltd Boosts Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 16th, 2023

AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,684 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after buying an additional 61 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Albemarle were worth $365,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new stake in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Albemarle by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 130 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its stake in Albemarle by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 150 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Albemarle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Trustcore Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 49.0% during the 3rd quarter. Trustcore Financial Services LLC now owns 149 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.24% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE ALB opened at $204.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.94, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.53. Albemarle Co. has a 52 week low of $185.15 and a 52 week high of $334.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $235.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $252.66.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $8.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.46 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $2.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.60 billion. Albemarle had a net margin of 36.75% and a return on equity of 37.63%. The business’s revenue was up 193.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Albemarle Co. will post 28.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This is a positive change from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 16th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is currently 7.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ALB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $497.00 to $498.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. CICC Research assumed coverage on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Scott Tozier sold 417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.49, for a total transaction of $106,539.33. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 75,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,213,614.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Company Profile

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Albemarle Corp. engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of chemicals for consumer electronics, petroleum refining, utilities, packaging, construction, transportation, pharmaceuticals, crop production, food-safety, and custom chemistry services. It operates through the following business segments: Lithium, Bromine, Catalysts, and All Other.