Vanguard Group Inc. Purchases 77,773 Shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Albemarle Corporation by 0.5% by acquiring an additional 77,773 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 12.47% valued at over $1 billion.
• Albemarle's recent earnings report showed a surprising profit of $0.11 per share, exceeding estimates, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 7.0%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.405, indicating a dividend yield of 2.0%, with payment scheduled for October 1st.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Albemarle Corporation (NYSE:ALB - Free Report) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,672,272 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock after acquiring an additional 77,773 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 12.47% of Albemarle worth $1,056,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 5.2% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 184,426 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $13,282,000 after buying an additional 6,487 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Albemarle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Albemarle by 2,151.9% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 60,800 shares of the specialty chemicals company's stock valued at $5,234,000 after buying an additional 58,100 shares in the last quarter. 92.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Albemarle from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $74.00 price target on shares of Albemarle and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler set a $68.00 price target on shares of Albemarle and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Albemarle from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Albemarle from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Albemarle currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $88.06.

Albemarle Price Performance

Shares of Albemarle stock traded up $0.75 on Friday, hitting $82.18. 2,841,093 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,766,485. The company has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.82 and a beta of 1.63. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $69.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.08. Albemarle Corporation has a 12-month low of $49.43 and a 12-month 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.83) by $0.94. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. Albemarle had a negative net margin of 18.61% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. The firm's revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.04 EPS. Analysts expect that Albemarle Corporation will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Albemarle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. 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.