Primecap Management Co. CA Has $364.22 Million Stock Holdings in Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB)

Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle Co. (NYSE:ALB) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,813,054 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after acquiring an additional 87,970 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned approximately 3.24% of Albemarle worth $364,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 82,874 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 128.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 7,076,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $1,022,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,979,885 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Albemarle by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,800,219 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $838,025,000 after acquiring an additional 1,396,624 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Albemarle by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,185,734 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $749,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667,164 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Albemarle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $377,341,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $89.35 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $87.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.71. Albemarle Co. has a one year low of $71.97 and a one year high of $183.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a PE ratio of 32.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 1.54.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Albemarle had a positive return on equity of 6.38% and a negative net margin of 6.72%. The business’s revenue was down 39.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Co. will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This is a boost from Albemarle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Albemarle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Baird R W lowered shares of Albemarle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Albemarle from $135.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Albemarle from $188.00 to $178.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Citigroup decreased their price objective 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, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $128.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $117.10.

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.