Neo Ivy Capital Management Purchases Shares of 29,162 Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

Key Points

• Neo Ivy Capital Management has acquired 29,162 shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB), valued at approximately $2.1 million, marking a new position for the firm in the specialty chemicals sector.
• A recent report indicates that institutional investors own 92.87% of Albemarle's stock, highlighting strong interest from major financial players.
• Albemarle recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.93%, set to be paid on October 1st to shareholders of record.

Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 29,162 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $2,100,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new stake in Albemarle during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Allianz SE bought a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. Institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on ALB shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Albemarle to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Albemarle from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Mizuho set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $91.00.

Albemarle Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of ALB traded down $0.34 on Friday, reaching $83.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,377,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,448,243. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Albemarle Corporation has a twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $113.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.87 billion, a PE ratio of -7.54 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $64.81 and a 200-day moving average of $69.89.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.62) by $0.44. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 22.39% and a negative return on equity of 1.92%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -14.57%.

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.