BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Cuts Holdings in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S reduced its stake in Albemarle Corporation by 70.7%, selling 10,704 shares, leaving it with 4,445 shares valued at approximately $320,000.
• Several institutional investors have altered their positions in Albemarle, with Nuveen LLC purchasing a new stake valued at approximately $26.8 million and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increasing its stake by 28.7%.
• Albemarle recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.0% and a payout ratio of -17.38%.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S reduced its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 70.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,445 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 10,704 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Albemarle were worth $320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ALB. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter valued at about $26,836,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 343,210 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 140.5% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 458,214 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $32,996,000 after purchasing an additional 267,659 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 173,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle by 6,393.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 152,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $10,975,000 after purchasing an additional 150,047 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $85.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 621,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,539,446. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $73.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.14 and a beta of 1.63. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $113.91.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. Albemarle's revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.04 EPS. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is -17.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ALB. TD Securities dropped their target price on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Albemarle from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price target on shares of Albemarle and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Three research 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 MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $86.47.

Albemarle Company 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.