Carmignac Gestion Lowers Stock Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• Carmignac Gestion has reduced its stake in Albemarle Corporation by 46.7%, now holding 3,999 shares valued at $288,000.
• Albemarle reported earnings of $0.11 per share, exceeding expectations but showed a 7% year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.405, representing an annual yield of 2.0%, with the dividend payout ratio currently at -17.38%.

Carmignac Gestion lowered its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 46.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,999 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 3,500 shares during the quarter. Carmignac Gestion's holdings in Albemarle were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter valued at $32,000. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 74.5% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 452 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 84.1% during the first quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 670 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ALB shares. UBS Group raised their price target on Albemarle from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Albemarle from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 price target on Albemarle and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, TD Securities reduced their price target on Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $89.17.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $81.53. 1,271,863 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,544,772. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.75 and a beta of 1.63. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $113.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.94. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company posted $0.04 EPS. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Albemarle's payout ratio is currently -17.38%.

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.