Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 137,269 Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Albemarle Corporation by 101.0% in Q1, now holding approximately 273,115 shares valued at $19.67 million.
• Albemarle recently reported an earnings per share of $0.11, exceeding analyst expectations of ($0.83), despite a 7.0% year-over-year revenue decline.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.1%, to be paid on October 1st.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 101.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 273,115 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 137,269 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.23% of Albemarle worth $19,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC raised its position in 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 worth $84,085,000 after acquiring an additional 173,441 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $10,975,000 after buying an additional 150,047 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1,213.0% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 158,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $13,657,000 after buying an additional 146,566 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 294.7% during the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 187,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $16,103,000 after buying an additional 139,672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,290,797 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $111,112,000 after buying an additional 139,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ALB. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Albemarle to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $88.06.

Albemarle Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of ALB stock traded down $2.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $78.01. 5,412,982 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,892,202. Albemarle Corporation has a 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $113.91. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $68.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.18 billion, a PE ratio of -8.37 and a beta of 1.63.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.04 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current 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 yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -17.38%.

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.