Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $30.22 Million Position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its position in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 319,055 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 6,936 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of Albemarle worth $30,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter worth $202,000. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 40.2% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,645 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $744,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its position in shares of Albemarle by 4.6% in the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,655 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Albemarle during the first quarter worth about $1,489,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in Albemarle by 8.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 274,541 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $36,167,000 after purchasing an additional 21,260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ALB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Baird R W cut Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Albemarle from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Albemarle from $171.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $132.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.47.

Albemarle Price Performance

Albemarle stock opened at $103.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.17 billion, a PE ratio of -6.18 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.92. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $153.54.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -9.67%.

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.