Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• Mirae Asset Global Investments significantly reduced its stock position in Albemarle Corporation by 53.5%, leaving it with 38,084 shares valued at approximately $2.39 million.
• Several other hedge funds have varied their stakes in Albemarle, with J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increasing its position by 53.7% to own 12,343 shares, while PGGM Investments boosted its stake by 90.4% to own over 1 million shares.
• Albemarle reported a negative EPS of $0.11 in its recent earnings, exceeding expectations, but showed a revenue decline of 7.0% year-over-year.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. reduced its stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 53.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,084 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after selling 43,752 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Albemarle were worth $2,387,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 53.7% in the second quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 12,343 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $774,000 after acquiring an additional 4,312 shares in the last quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 8.3% in the second quarter. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. now owns 23,131 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $1,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,775 shares in the last quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Albemarle in the second quarter worth approximately $32,903,000. LBP AM SA purchased a new position in Albemarle in the second quarter worth approximately $3,565,000. Finally, PGGM Investments lifted its stake in Albemarle by 90.4% in the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 1,069,924 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $67,052,000 after acquiring an additional 507,975 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Albemarle Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE ALB opened at $90.63 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.72 and a beta of 1.65. Albemarle Corporation has a 12 month low of $49.43 and a 12 month high of $113.91. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $79.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.94. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. Albemarle had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 18.61%.The firm's revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.04 earnings per share. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th were issued a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is presently -17.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ALB. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 price target on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Baird R W cut Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Albemarle from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $87.47.

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.

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