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

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm 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. owned 0.21% of Albemarle worth $21,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 71.5% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,948 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 6,234 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 28,824 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $2,481,000 after buying an additional 4,899 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Albemarle by 28.5% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 423,049 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $40,067,000 after buying an additional 93,718 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Albemarle by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 658,145 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $62,333,000 after acquiring an additional 264,756 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in Albemarle by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 39,499 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $3,741,000 after acquiring an additional 5,197 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on ALB shares. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Albemarle from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $109.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of Albemarle from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Albemarle from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $104.30.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE ALB opened at $72.21 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.45 and a beta of 1.70. Albemarle Co. has a twelve month low of $67.23 and a twelve month high of $137.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($1.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by ($0.49). Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 21.93%. Sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Co. will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

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

About Albemarle

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.