Cox Capital Mgt LLC Purchases New Stake in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• Cox Capital Management LLC has purchased a new stake in Albemarle Corporation, acquiring 7,811 shares valued at approximately $490,000 in the second quarter.
• Albemarle reported an EPS of $0.11 for the most recent quarter, significantly surpassing analysts' expectations of a loss, while its revenue was $1.33 billion, exceeding estimates.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $1.62 and a yield of 1.9%, with a dividend payout ratio of -17.38%.

Cox Capital Mgt LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,811 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $490,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. National Pension Service grew its position in 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 buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in Albemarle during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Evermay Wealth Management LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 306 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 54.4% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 727 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Albemarle Trading Up 4.0%

ALB stock opened at $84.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.98 billion, a PE ratio of -9.10 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle Corporation has a one year low of $49.43 and a one year high of $113.91. The company's 50 day moving average price is $78.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.31.

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 firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. The business's revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -17.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ALB shares. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho set a $76.00 target price on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. HSBC increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $85.83.

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.

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