Quantitative Investment Management LLC Purchases Shares of 4,081 Albemarle Corporation $ALB

Key Points

• Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased 4,081 shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) in the first quarter, valued at approximately $293,000.
• Albemarle announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405 per share, with a yield of 2.0%, to be paid on October 1st.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed forecasts for Albemarle, with price targets ranging from $62.00 to $115.00, leading to a consensus rating of "Reduce."

Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,081 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ALB. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Albemarle by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,195,496 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $102,910,000 after purchasing an additional 14,603 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its position in Albemarle by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,103 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $2,677,000 after buying an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC acquired a new stake in Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth about $508,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC raised its position in Albemarle by 114.2% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 2,804 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 22,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Albemarle in the fourth quarter worth about $9,268,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ALB shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Albemarle from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group raised shares of 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. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $86.47.

Albemarle Trading Down 0.1%

ALB stock traded down $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $84.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,731,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,224,362. Albemarle Corporation has a 52 week low of $49.43 and a 52 week high of $113.91. The stock has a market cap of $9.99 billion, a PE ratio of -9.11 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $73.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.19.

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 firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.04 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Albemarle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -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.