Bayforest Capital Ltd Purchases 8,949 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in Albemarle Corporation by 455.9% in Q1, holding 10,912 shares worth approximately $786,000.
• Albemarle recently reported earnings of $0.11 per share for the quarter, exceeding estimates and generating $1.33 billion in revenue, despite a 7% decline year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.0%, to be paid on October 1st.

Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 455.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,912 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,949 shares during the quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd's holdings in Albemarle were worth $786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Albemarle by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,672,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,056,697,000 after purchasing an additional 77,773 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Albemarle by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,990,762 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $171,365,000 after purchasing an additional 25,207 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Albemarle by 28.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $110,814,000 after buying an additional 343,210 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 17.4% during the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,167,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $84,085,000 after buying an additional 173,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 3.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,072,921 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $77,272,000 after buying an additional 31,951 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Albemarle Trading Up 2.4%

NYSE ALB traded up $1.77 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $75.09. 3,593,452 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,774,958. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Albemarle Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.43 and a 52 week high of $113.91. The stock has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a PE ratio of -8.06 and a beta of 1.65.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -17.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ALB. Scotiabank increased their price target on Albemarle from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $62.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $86.47.

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.