Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB) Shares Bought by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Albemarle Corporation by 4.9%, owning 778,118 shares valued at approximately $56 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Albemarle reported a net loss of $0.83 EPS in its latest quarterly earnings but beat the revenue estimates with $1.33 billion, marking a 7.0% decrease year-over-year.
• The firm announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405, translating to an annualized yield of 2.4%, with a payout ratio currently standing at -17.38%.

Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 778,118 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,634 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned approximately 0.66% of Albemarle worth $56,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 17.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 173,441 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 6,393.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 152,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $10,975,000 after purchasing an additional 150,047 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its position 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 valued at $13,657,000 after buying an additional 146,566 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $16,103,000 after buying an additional 139,672 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake 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 valued at $111,112,000 after buying an additional 139,600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ALB. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $85.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albemarle to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $88.06.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of ALB stock traded up $2.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $72.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,141,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,447,271. The stock has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a PE ratio of -7.77 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $66.86 and a 200 day moving average of $68.48. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month high of $113.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.94. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.04 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. 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.