Albemarle Corporation $ALB Stock Holdings Raised by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC significantly increased its stake in Albemarle Corporation by 140.5% during the 1st quarter, now owning 458,214 shares valued at approximately $32.99 million.
• Several institutional investors have also raised their positions, with 92.87% of the company's stock now owned by institutional investors.
• Albemarle recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.0%, with the payout scheduled for October 1st.

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 140.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 458,214 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 267,659 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.39% of Albemarle worth $32,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in shares of Albemarle by 106.4% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 178,788 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $12,876,000 after acquiring an additional 92,175 shares during the period. Aviso Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 37.6% during the first quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 21,986 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,583,000 after buying an additional 6,011 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the first quarter worth about $282,000. Algert Global LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the first quarter worth about $811,000. Finally, Gen Wealth Partners Inc boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 15.5% during the first quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 6,357 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $458,000 after buying an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on ALB shares. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Albemarle in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. TD Securities reduced their price target on shares of Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 price target on shares of Albemarle and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $90.67.

Albemarle Trading Up 7.6%

Shares of Albemarle stock traded up $6.16 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $87.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,927,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,547,149. 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 of $72.12 and a 200 day moving average of $67.92. The company has a market capitalization of $10.32 billion, a PE ratio of -9.41 and a beta of 1.63. 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, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.94. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.04 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company 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 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 yield of 1.8%. Albemarle's payout ratio is -17.38%.

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.