Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) Shares Bought by Creative Planning

Creative Planning raised its stake in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 165.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,623 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 24,704 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning's holdings in Albemarle were worth $3,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Albemarle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,083,522 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,034,787,000 after acquiring an additional 82,874 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,813,054 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $364,223,000 after buying an additional 87,970 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,472,155 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $325,682,000 after buying an additional 116,284 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 176.6% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 1,588,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $209,333,000 after buying an additional 3,662,117 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,568,602 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $149,833,000 after buying an additional 144,705 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Trading Up 8.2 %

Shares of Albemarle stock traded up $7.78 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $102.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,790,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,034,436. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $71.97 and a twelve month high of $177.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $86.96 and a 200-day moving average of $104.83. The stock has a market cap of $12.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.12, a P/E/G ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.67.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative net margin of 6.72% and a positive return on equity of 6.38%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.33 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This is a positive change from Albemarle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ALB shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Albemarle from $151.00 to $132.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Albemarle from $137.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $117.10.

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.