Polianta Ltd Has $1.25 Million Stock Position in Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• Polianta Ltd increased its holdings in Albemarle Corporation by 44.2%, owning a total of 19,900 shares worth approximately $1.25 million following the acquisition of 6,100 shares.
• Albemarle recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.11, surpassing analyst estimates, despite a 7% year-over-year revenue decline to $1.33 billion.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.0%, scheduled for payment on October 1st.

Polianta Ltd grew its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 19,900 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,100 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd's holdings in Albemarle were worth $1,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter valued at $26,836,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Albemarle by 28.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,706 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $110,814,000 after purchasing an additional 343,210 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 140.5% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 458,214 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $32,996,000 after acquiring an additional 267,659 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 106.4% during the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 415,111 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $29,896,000 after purchasing an additional 214,012 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Albemarle by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 1,167,520 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $84,085,000 after purchasing an additional 173,441 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $89.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $85.83.

Albemarle Stock Performance

NYSE:ALB traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $81.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,193,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,578,934. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.75 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.12. Albemarle Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.43 and a 52 week 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.

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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -17.38%.

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.