Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 11,196 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. has significantly reduced its stake in Albemarle Corporation, selling 11,196 shares and decreasing its ownership by 58.2%.
• The specialty chemicals company recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.11, exceeding analyst expectations of ($0.83), despite a 7.0% drop in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.
• Albemarle declared a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.2%, with the ex-dividend date set for September 12th.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 58.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,031 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 11,196 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Albemarle were worth $579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,672,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,056,697,000 after buying an additional 77,773 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 25,207 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 28.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $110,814,000 after acquiring an additional 343,210 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,167,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $84,085,000 after acquiring an additional 173,441 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 3.1% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 31,951 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB opened at $73.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.47. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $113.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.64 billion, a PE ratio of -7.88 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.94. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.04 earnings per share. Albemarle's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 target price on Albemarle and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. UBS Group upgraded Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the company from $62.00 to $89.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Three investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $86.47.

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.

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