9,691 Shares in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) Acquired by GSA Capital Partners LLP

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 9,691 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $698,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 29,685 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,555,000 after buying an additional 973 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $39,405,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $218,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 169,206 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $14,565,000 after purchasing an additional 9,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Albemarle by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,795,891 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $240,044,000 after purchasing an additional 53,985 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock opened at $67.94 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $66.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.06. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $113.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.29 and a beta of 1.63.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.94. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.04 EPS. The company's revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is currently -17.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ALB. Robert W. Baird restated an "underperform" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $68.00 target price on shares of Albemarle and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.78.

Albemarle Company 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.

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