Bard Financial Services Inc. Buys New Shares in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• Bard Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Albemarle Corporation during the second quarter, purchasing 29,515 shares valued at approximately $1.85 million.
• Albemarle's recent earnings report showed $1.33 billion in revenue, beating analyst expectations, but the company's revenue has decreased by 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, with an annualized dividend payout of $1.62 and a yield of 2.1%.

Bard Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 29,515 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,850,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its stake in Albemarle by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 4,820 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 795 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 317,963 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $27,370,000 after purchasing an additional 34,800 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 1,213.0% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 158,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $13,657,000 after purchasing an additional 146,566 shares in the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at about $149,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.6% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 47,909 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $4,124,000 after purchasing an additional 10,663 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 target price on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Albemarle from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 29th. Mizuho set a $76.00 price target on Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $89.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $86.47.

Albemarle Stock Performance

ALB traded up $1.32 on Friday, hitting $82.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,139,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,578,173. The company's fifty day moving average price is $77.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.16. 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 current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market cap of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.83 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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.04 earnings per share. Albemarle's revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Albemarle's payout ratio is currently -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.