Albemarle Corporation $ALB Shares Sold by Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. cut its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 71.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,279 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 42,500 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.'s holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter worth $32,000. National Pension Service raised its holdings in Albemarle by 74.5% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 84.1% during the first quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 670 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $89.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, August 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 price objective on Albemarle and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $86.47.

Albemarle Trading Up 2.4%

Albemarle stock traded up $1.77 during trading on Thursday, hitting $75.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,593,452 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,611,781. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.06 and a beta of 1.65. The stock's fifty day moving average is $76.40 and its 200 day moving average is $68.08. Albemarle Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $113.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.31.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.94. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

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

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.