Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $4.06 Million Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Albemarle Corporation by 47.0%, owning 56,394 shares valued at approximately $4.06 million after acquiring an additional 18,022 shares in Q1.
• Analysts have mixed views on ALB, with price targets ranging from $58 to $89, while three rated it as a Buy and others as Hold or Sell.
• Albemarle announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405, representing a yield of 2.0%, with the record date set for September 12th.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 47.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,022 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Albemarle were worth $4,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALB. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 48.1% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,998 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 602,304 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $51,846,000 after purchasing an additional 119,026 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 29,990 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $2,582,000 after purchasing an additional 13,364 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $5,532,000. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 170.4% in the 4th quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 10,580 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $911,000 after purchasing an additional 6,667 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Baird R W lowered shares of Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. UBS Group raised shares of Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $86.47.

Albemarle Stock Performance

Albemarle stock traded up $0.98 on Friday, reaching $76.03. 2,507,644 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,763,262. The stock has a market cap of $8.95 billion, a PE ratio of -8.16 and a beta of 1.64. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $113.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $76.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.88.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.94. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during 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%. The business's revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.04 EPS. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is currently -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.