Albemarle Corporation $ALB Shares Bought by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Albemarle Corporation by 13.0%, acquiring an additional 6,513 shares, bringing their total ownership to 56,483 shares worth approximately $4,072,000.
• Despite recent investments from various institutional investors, Albemarle's stock has faced downgrades from analysts, with Baird R W lowering the rating to "strong sell" and several other firms issuing target prices below current levels.
• Albemarle recently posted a quarterly earnings report, beating EPS estimates with a profit of $0.11, although revenue fell by 7.0% year-over-year.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 13.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,483 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,513 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Albemarle were worth $4,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. purchased a new stake in Albemarle in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in Albemarle during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Evermay Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Albemarle by 84.1% in the first quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 670 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Albemarle in the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.87% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ALB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Albemarle from $68.00 to $58.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Albemarle from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Baird R W cut shares of Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Albemarle in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Albemarle currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $89.17.

Albemarle Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Albemarle stock traded up $0.0050 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $78.1250. The company's stock had a trading volume of 442,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,547,983. The business has a fifty day moving average of $70.53 and a 200 day moving average of $67.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.31 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 market capitalization of $9.19 billion, a PE ratio of -8.37 and a beta of 1.63.

Albemarle (NYSE:ALB - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.04 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Albemarle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.1%. Albemarle's payout ratio 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.