MFA Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 4,836 Shares of Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Albemarle Corporation by 30.7%, acquiring an additional 4,836 shares, bringing its total holdings to 20,593 shares valued at approximately $1.29 million.
• Albemarle Corporation reported earnings of $0.11 per share, significantly surpassing analyst estimates, along with a revenue of $1.33 billion, despite a year-over-year decline of 7.0%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.0%, to be paid on October 1st to shareholders of record.

MFA Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 30.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,593 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after buying an additional 4,836 shares during the period. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Albemarle by 177.8% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,878 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 3,762 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 41,844 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,622,000 after purchasing an additional 3,820 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its stake in Albemarle by 33.9% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,723 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 452.2% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,662 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Albemarle by 54.5% in the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 10,737 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 3,786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.7%

Albemarle stock opened at $80.45 on Tuesday. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.63 and a beta of 1.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $77.95 and a 200 day moving average of $68.16.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.04 EPS. The company's revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -17.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ALB. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen raised Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 target price on Albemarle and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Baird R W lowered Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $85.83.

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.

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