172,667 Shares in Albemarle Corporation $ALB Bought by Trexquant Investment LP

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP acquired 172,667 shares of Albemarle Corporation, valued at approximately $12.4 million, representing about 0.15% of the company's total shares.
• Albemarle recently reported Q2 earnings with an EPS of $0.11, exceeding expectations, but experienced a 7% decrease in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405, with a projected annual yield of 1.9%, despite facing negative margins and a projected loss per share of -0.04 for the current year.

Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 172,667 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock, valued at approximately $12,435,000. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.15% of Albemarle at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALB. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 10.7% during the first quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 50,326 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $3,624,000 after buying an additional 4,872 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Albemarle by 5.2% during the first quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 243,036 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $17,503,000 after buying an additional 12,014 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the first quarter valued at $271,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 184,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock worth $13,282,000 after purchasing an additional 6,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Albemarle in the first quarter worth about $303,000. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Albemarle Price Performance

ALB traded down $5.27 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.65. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,993,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,542,196. 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 twelve month low of $49.43 and a twelve month high of $113.91. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $74.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.56 and a beta of 1.64.

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, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.94. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for 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 business's quarterly revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.04 earnings per share. Albemarle has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Albemarle's payout ratio is currently -17.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ALB shares. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Albemarle in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price objective on shares of Albemarle and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Albemarle from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Albemarle from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Albemarle from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $86.47.

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.