Bard Financial Services Inc. Buys New Holdings 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 second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 29,515 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $1,850,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 77,773 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $110,814,000 after buying an additional 343,210 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $84,085,000 after buying an additional 173,441 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 3.1% in 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 buying an additional 31,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 778,118 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $56,040,000 after buying an additional 36,634 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:ALB opened at $76.03 on Monday. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $113.91. The company has a 50 day moving average of $76.73 and a 200-day moving average of $67.88. 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 $8.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.16 and a beta of 1.64.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. 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 prior year, the business posted $0.04 earnings per share. Albemarle's revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Albemarle's payout ratio is -17.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ALB shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Mizuho set a $76.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Albemarle from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $62.00 to $89.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus 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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