Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Invests $938,000 in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. has invested approximately $938,000 in Albemarle Corporation, acquiring 13,019 shares of the specialty chemicals company.
• Albemarle's stock has seen price target increases from several analysts, including a raise from $60.00 to $80.00 by JPMorgan Chase & Co., indicating positive market sentiment.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, reflecting a 2.2% yield, with distributions scheduled for October 1st, and a noted negative payout ratio of -17.38%.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,019 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $938,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ALB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,672,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $1,056,697,000 after purchasing an additional 77,773 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,990,762 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $171,365,000 after purchasing an additional 25,207 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $110,814,000 after purchasing an additional 343,210 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 173,441 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,072,921 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $77,272,000 after purchasing an additional 31,951 shares during the period. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ALB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Mizuho set a $76.00 price objective on Albemarle in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Albemarle from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $86.47.

Albemarle Stock Up 2.4%

ALB stock opened at $75.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.06 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $76.56 and a 200-day moving average of $68.04. Albemarle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $49.43 and a fifty-two week high of $113.91.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.Albemarle's revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.04 earnings per share. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio 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.

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