Nuveen LLC Buys New Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 384,143 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $26,836,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 0.33% of Albemarle as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ALB. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 17.4% during the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,167,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $84,085,000 after purchasing an additional 173,441 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 6,393.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 152,394 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $10,975,000 after purchasing an additional 150,047 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 1,213.0% during the fourth quarter. Man Group plc now owns 158,649 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $13,657,000 after purchasing an additional 146,566 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 294.7% during the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 187,072 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $16,103,000 after purchasing an additional 139,672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,290,797 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $111,112,000 after purchasing an additional 139,600 shares during the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on ALB. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Albemarle from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Mizuho set a $76.00 price target on Albemarle in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Albemarle from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $89.17.

Albemarle Stock Up 1.2%

ALB stock traded up $0.9530 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $79.0730. The stock had a trading volume of 1,071,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,551,051. 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 1-year low of $49.43 and a 1-year high of $113.91. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.53 and a 200 day moving average of $67.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.49 and a beta of 1.63.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.94. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.04 EPS. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio is -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.