Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $6.01 Million Stock Holdings in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Albemarle Corporation by 314.3%, acquiring a total of 83,374 shares valued at approximately $6 million.
• Albemarle reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.11, exceeding expectations, but its revenue decreased by 7.0% compared to the previous year.
• Analysts have issued mixed ratings on Albemarle's stock, with five analysts rating it as a sell, while the consensus price target is $88.06.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 314.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 83,374 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after purchasing an additional 63,248 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned 0.07% of Albemarle worth $6,005,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,672,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,056,697,000 after buying an additional 77,773 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Albemarle by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,990,762 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $171,365,000 after acquiring an additional 25,207 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Albemarle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,432,153 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $123,280,000 after acquiring an additional 8,243 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Albemarle by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,290,797 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $111,112,000 after acquiring an additional 139,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,195,496 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $102,910,000 after purchasing an additional 14,603 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ALB traded up $0.6980 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $78.8180. 1,221,371 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,552,156. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.48 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. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $70.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.98. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $113.91.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.94. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. Albemarle's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.04 EPS. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share 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 issued 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Baird R W cut Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Albemarle from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, TD Securities decreased their price target on Albemarle from $115.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $89.17.

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.