Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Has $70.07 Million Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 15.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 531,912 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after purchasing an additional 70,407 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.45% of Albemarle worth $70,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Czech National Bank increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 20,648 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,720,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. USCF Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. USCF Advisers LLC now owns 200 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 332 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 18,298 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,644,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Berenberg Bank raised Albemarle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $130.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $122.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $170.00 to $127.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Albemarle from $112.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $145.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Albemarle news, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total transaction of $114,251.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $921,875.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO John Clarence Barichivich III sold 1,475 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.17, for a total transaction of $194,950.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $626,882.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Mark Richard Mummert sold 843 shares of Albemarle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.53, for a total value of $114,251.79. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $921,875.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Albemarle Price Performance

NYSE:ALB opened at $92.80 on Friday. Albemarle Co. has a 1-year low of $90.02 and a 1-year high of $215.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.84, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.91 billion, a PE ratio of 33.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.57.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.09). Albemarle had a net margin of 4.02% and a return on equity of 14.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $10.32 earnings per share. Albemarle’s quarterly revenue was down 47.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post 1.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Albemarle’s payout ratio is 58.18%.

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.